Moeller is getting a new service dog to help with mental health at Moeller High School. Moeller’s yearly symposium focus for this year is mental health awareness. The implementation of a new service dog is in stride with their goal for the year.

When I asked Kristen Merica, Zehler House counselor, she said that the main goal of the dog is “overall student well-being and even staff wellbeing.”

The day-to-day helpers would be the counselors. Mr. Thomas Hertlein, Trinity House counselor, said, "There would be trained handlers, people who know all the commands and everything, and they would most likely be the handlers." He also said, "There would need to be a primary handler who is the one who brings the dog home with him or her every night." The main handler for the dog is going to be Mr. Mike Mason. He is going to take the dog home overnight and bring him back to school in the mornings.

In an interview with Mr. Hertlein, he shared a personal experience with service dogs he has had. A student at a previous high school that he was a counselor for was having an anxiety attack: “Dog comes up and puts its head on the students lap, she stopped crying immediately, she completely changed her perspective on her day.” He went on to say, “She went from being a 10 on a 1-10 scale of anxiety that she was experiencing right there down to a 1 or 2."

A 2019 study published by the National Institute of Health found that a dog present in the classroom promotes positive mood and provides significant anti-stress effects on the body. There are plenty of other examples of therapy dogs helping within schools.

Landen Stacy, Moeller junior, loves the idea just based on his own everyday experience. He is excited to welcome Sidon to the Moeller family. He stated, “Going home to my dog always helps me destress after school, so having one at school would be good for everyone”

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