From The Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — If a dog is a man’s best friend, there are three very special new members of Trussville City Schools.
Skye, Bullet and Atom are trained facility dogs now roaming the halls of Hewitt-Trussville High School and Hewitt-Trussville Middle School.
TCS and Service Dogs Alabama (SDA) teamed up to make the new additions possible. The facility dogs were approved before the coronavirus pandemic, but we are sure they will help ease the daily stresses of students and teachers while facing unique challenges. The three dogs completed training and are Certified Facility Dogs.
Skye is at the high school. She will assist students and staff.
“Skye has been skillfully trained to serve her new educational setting by assisting with intervention tasks and breaking patterns of disruptive behaviors in classrooms, counseling sessions, and in testing spaces,” TCS said in a statement.
Counselor Laura Stalls is Skye’s handler. With the duo at the helm of the new program at HTHS, the SKYE is the limit.
Bullet and Atom are in the middle school. We aren’t sure, but we assume that Bullet is very fast and Atom’s favorite subject is science.
Krista DeMent, Counselor at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, is Bullet’s handler and Erin Piper, Assistant Principal, is Atom’s handler.
The purpose of the K-9 helpers is to reduce stress and increase motivation, focus and task persistence.
The program was facilitated through a program with the Alabama State Department of Education.
Continued training and monitoring will be in place by SDA for the remainder of the dogs’ working lives.