BRYAN, Texas (KRHD) — Bryan Independent School District's Neal Elementary School welcomed a new four-legged staff member designed to provide comfort and support to students who need extra emotional assistance.
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The school is one of three campuses receiving a comfort dog through the district's PAWS program, which aims to help students who have experienced trauma or struggle with communication.
"It's a win win across the board. Everybody benefits from the PAWS program," said Sarah Braden, executive director of Bryan ISD Education Foundation.
Neal Elementary Principal Juanita Ontiberas said the comfort dog will serve students facing various challenges.
"There's a lot of students that have experienced trauma. We have a lot of nonverbal students. We have students that don't trust speaking to adults," Ontiberas said.
The district has already seen positive results from their first comfort dog, named June, at another campus.
"Literally every day there are stories coming out about students that are receiving comfort that are able to make it through the full school day, that maybe are having a meltdown or a hard moment and are able to turn the corner and reengage all because they get a few minutes with June," Braden said.
Students at Neal Elementary have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their comfort dog, Mochi.
"They were just so ecstatic. So we've been training them as well like how we greet Mochi and how we, you know, what we do when we see her, but yes, there's a lot of excitement just having her here. I think it is going to greatly impact our students and just give them an outlet and a way to find some peace and calm," Ontiberas said.
The district has ambitious plans to expand the program significantly.
"So we're actually looking to expand it district-wide. So the Foundation's goal is over the next six or seven years to have a comfort dog in all 23 campuses," Braden said.
Bryan ISD aims to become the first school district in Texas to have a comfort dog on every campus.
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