Students at RHAM Middle and High School in Hebron now have four-legged friendly faces to visit them on some school days.
Carol Rusch, School Psychologist, announced she is a participant in the newly launched national Dogs in the Classroom program, a pilot program based out of Maryland that provides schools with therapy dog teams. This program is a sub group of the Pets in the Classroom Program
This entails having dogs in the schools on certain days to help provide support to students at the Hebron schools.
The Dogs in the Classroom program has done lots of research in order to show the benefits of having these animals in the classroom.
Research has shown us exactly what animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are doing to improve mental health:
- Increase perceptions of social support 13, 16
- Support people during times of crisis 4, 9, 10
- Assist professionals in providing trauma recovery 17, 19
- Decrease levels of general anxiety 6, 14, 24
- Alleviate symptoms of depression 20
- Assist in formalized mental health treatment 3, 5, 11, 12, 15, 23
Studies show us that therapy animals can help us feel better, but can they also help us learn?
Research on AAI in learning environments has shown that therapy animals may help with the following aspects:
- Foster reading abilities, such as reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension 22
- Enhance primary skills such as object recognition and categorization 7, 8
- Mitigate stress levels, especially surrounding events like final exams 1, 18, 21
- Provide a source of motivation, stimulation, and focus in learning 8
The answer is YES, therapy animals can positively impact students academically, socially, and emotionally. Whether helping to encourage struggling readers, motivating students to focus on their learning, or providing a non-judgmental friend, therapy animals can make an incredible difference.
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Source: WTNH and Pets in the Classroom