Narr: Not everyone gets excited
about going to school each day. Fortunately, these two dogs
can't wait to get to class. After all,
they have important jobs to do. Kristy: They know
when they are coming to work and they're ready to go. - Good morning! Narr: On any given day,
you can find Jeter and Scout, making their rounds at campuses throughout the Selma
Unified School District. Student: You■re so cute.
Kristy: Good girl scout. Narr: Today,
these certified therapy dogs are visiting students
at
Selma High School. Kristy: Jeter and Scout... They help provide a safe and
supportive environment for students. Jeter has been with Selma
Unified since 2016. I call him my lead
therapy dog and Scout. She is four and a half years old
and I'm hoping she will be taking
taking the reins for a Jeter. She'll continue
to learn and work beside him. They're my colleagues
they■re my co-therapists. Narr: Kristy Rangel is the
proud owner of these two dogs. She's also the lead
mental health clinician and cl
inical supervisor
for Selma Unified. Kristy: The stigma associated
with mental health services, you know, it was pretty high. We had a lot of students
and parents who did not want mental services. So when we introduced
Jeter to the school district and he was board approved
and we went through the whole process,
we saw an increase of interest. And Jeter became a really big
part of our community, the school community
and the Selma community. And so with him
being around the stigma associated with
mental health
has really decreased. Narr: At 13 years old, Jeter
is starting to show his age and is happy to let Scout take over
as lead therapy dog these days. Kristy:
Hi, Kennedi. How's it going? Kennedi: I just needed to talk,
right now, but- Kristy: Okay, let's go on in. In session with me. They'll go
and I'll sit next to them and they will be there and be that comfort
and support that students need. Kristy: So what's
been going on this week? Kennedi: I just had a rough week
this last week.
- Today
was like my first real session. I really liked it. And I love dogs, so I feel like it's like
just a really good way of like releasing your feelings
and like, talking about what you need to talk about. - It's just been a lot. Kristy: Yeah,
she just wants to make sure and she wants to let you know
she's there for you. - They allow those defensive barriers
to, you know, to go down. And they provide an environment
where students feel like they can share
what's going on with them. Narr: Jonna
also got
to experience having a pup next to her
during her counseling session. Kristy: Hi. Welcome. How are you doing? Go ahead, have a seat. Jonna: It's nice
being able to see them. Kristy:
So how's it going today, Jonna? Jonna: Um, t's okay. It's been a
lot. A lot having to balance. - It lifts my spirit,
you know, like it helps me feel not as anxious. Kristy: With everything
that's going on with school. It's kind of hard to find
that balance. Kristy: Yeah.
Jonna: Yeah. Kristy:
Studies show th
at, you know, with dogs, it's like
just seeing them, petting them. You know, it
just releases that, like, happy hormone,
the release of oxytocin. Narr: It's not just the students
who benefit from having the pups being on campus. It's teachers too.
Greg: C■mon scout. Greg: I am definitely one of
those teachers. - You■re such a good girl.
You are. It■s just a stressful job. Teaching
isn't the easiest profession. And so getting a release for
that stress with these dogs, it lets me go back to my cla
ssroom
and be a better teacher. They pop in every once
in a while and the kids, their excitement level
definitely goes way up and they want to pet
and play with them. And it really does
change the mood in the room. Kids have changed in my 27 years
here. They seem
to be under more stress and they seem to be having more issues, social issues
and psychological issues. So having these people on campus
and having the dogs on campus have been a godsend. It's really has improved
our campus as a whole.
Kristy: You guys ready?
Greg: Everybody say bye Scout! Bye Jeter! Kristy: It's really amazing to see the way the culture
and the environment is so accepting of
Jeter and Scout and just seeing that Jeter
and Scout are making an impact and helping these students
feel supported and accepted. It's so satisfying
and just very fulfilling. Jonna: It's really important
because not everyone gets that. And so I think it's really
special that we have it here at Selma High School. Therapy dogs help humans
i
n all kinds of places hospitals, nursing
homes, even airports where they soothe nervous
travelers. In California, colleges
like Sacramento State, CSU, Long Beach and UC Berkeley used therapy dogs to alleviate
stress during finals week. To earn a therapy dog title
from the American Kennel Club, Dogs must complete
a certain number of visits. Starting with ten recorded
visits to earn a novice title all the way up to becoming a supreme
therapy dog with 600 visits.
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