Students at Elm Street School in RSU 16 (Mechanic Falls) have spent the school year learning an important lesson about community, kindness, and helping others — all with the support of some four-legged friends.
Through a special partnership with local nonprofit organization Mission Working Dogs, these students welcomed therapy dogs into their classrooms every Thursday throughout the school year for activities that supported both student learning and the dogs’ training.
This partnership grew from an already strong relationship between the school and the nonprofit. It expanded this year when retired teacher and current dog handler Debbi Conley reached out to Elm Street School Principal Jessica Madsen about getting volunteers and dogs into classrooms.
Mission Working Dogs trains therapy and service dogs to support people with disabilities, veterans, and others who benefit from trained working dogs. These weekly visits at the school gave the dogs valuable exposure to children while also providing students with opportunities to build literacy skills, strengthen social-emotional connections, and learn more about helping others in their community.
During the Thursday sessions, students and dogs participated in a variety of activities, including reading practice, Jeopardy-style games, sharing of jokes, and plenty of time for play and affection.
“It’s something that our students always look forward to,” Jessica Harvey, a second-grade teacher and the 2021 Androscoggin County Teacher of the Year, said. “It helps with attendance on those days when we have therapy dogs coming. Those were our well-attended days for sure.”
Harvey said students especially enjoyed reading aloud to the dogs, which helped make practicing literacy skills feel exciting and meaningful.
“Students are working on their reading fluency, and they get to practice that a lot in the classroom. Being able to read to a dog is just kind of a really special thing,” Harvey said. “We have a whole group of animal lovers and nature lovers, so having animals come into the classroom is just another way for kids to connect with living things.”
Beyond literacy development, this partnership also helped students better understand how organizations support people in need.
“I also think that learning about organizations that help people — veterans, individuals with disabilities — is important. That’s primarily what their work is about,” Harvey explained of the nonprofit. “[Students] having that awareness that there are people in the world who benefit from this type of support is really nice.”
This partnership became even more meaningful through a classroom project focused on community helpers. As students learned about the role of citizens in the community during a recent social studies unit on civics and government, they brainstormed ways they could make a difference themselves through a “Change for Change” fundraising effort.
After voting on a project, students in Harvey and Sophia Stone’s second-grade classrooms chose to raise money for Mission Working Dogs as a way to thank the nonprofit for including them in the dogs’ training and building relationships with the students throughout the year.
Together, the second graders raised $500.03 by collecting donations from students and staff across the school — enough to purchase 11 large bags of dog food for Mission Working Dogs.
Staff at Mission Working Dogs shared that they go through approximately 167 cups of puppy kibble each day, making the donation incredibly meaningful for the nonprofit, which relies on donations and sponsorships to support its mission of providing trained service dogs to individuals living with disabilities.
During a recent school visit, students proudly presented the bags of dog food to dog handlers Lauren King and Moria Case — both former classroom teachers — along with three of the therapy dogs. Students also created handwritten thank-you notes expressing their appreciation for the visits and friendships formed throughout the year.
Students were eager to share what they loved most about the weekly visits.
“They are adorable,” one student said. “They help people, and they are fun to play with.”
Another student added, “They are cute. I like playing Jeopardy with them.”
Harvey said the experience has shown the value of strong community partnerships and the lasting impact they can have on students.
“I think it’s great to have a partnership like this, having someone from the community in our classrooms,” Harvey said. “I think those community partnerships are some of the most valuable things that we can give our kids.”
This story was written in collaboration with Elm Street School (RSU 16). To submit a good news story to the Maine DOE, please fill out the good news submission form.
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