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Rookie’s impact at MMS

Photo by Jenny Kirk Marshall Middle School comfort dog Rookie turned 2 years old on Tuesday. She paused for a moment by familiar friend, counselor Krista Bjella.

MARSHALL — It was a day for celebration at Marshall Middle School as Rookie the comfort dog turned 2 years old.

“We announced her birthday this morning,” counselor Krista Bjella said. “The fun part is that Taher even took part in the celebration as kids got juice Popsicles — ones within the guidelines — at lunchtime to celebrate Rookie’s birthday. The kids loved that.”

Bjella said that the students have a really good connection to Rookie.

“She’s had lots of birthday wishes (Tuesday),” she said. “We tried having her out in the hallway as kids are passing, so they could wish her a happy birthday. A lot of the kids have also come in, wished her a happy birthday and brought her treats and toys.”

While it was a special day, there was no big gathering to honor the popular therapy dog.

“We wanted to keep the students’ day intact as much as possible,” Bjella said. “She does get a little bit overwhelmed when all the kids are in one space. Those big school lyceums get to be a little too much for her, and we wanted her to be able to work today. So we celebrated in ways that we know work within her boundaries.”

Rookie, a Goldendoodle who is certified as a therapy dog, made her debut near the end of the 2015-16 school year and has been having a positive impact ever since.

“She’s a great addition to our school,” Bjella said.

Along with school counselor Jennifer Hey, Bjella helps facilitate student contact with Rookie.

“She works hard every day,” Bjella said. “Rookie has certain things scheduled each day, where she sees either certain groups of students or certain students on a daily basis. That’s in her schedule.”

Rookie also works with students on an “as needed” basis.

“In particular, that might be with students who are feeling anxious,” Bjella said. “It could be a variety of things — maybe some family situations, losing something they loved — and they use her for kind of grief support. But she works hard every day.”

Bjella said there are students who really need and respond well to time with Rookie.

“There’s just students who you know need her and seek her out when they need her — even if it’s just a little bit of a sensory break, where they pet her gently and it just calms them,” she said. “They’re able to move on with their routine. So we’re finding her built into kids’ schedules and routines that need her, and then she’s also really helpful as needed.”

Rookie is said to have phenomenal instincts.

“She definitely senses and knows when someone needs her,” Bjella said. “You will find her walking over — and this is not part of her training, but she’s taught herself — to put a paw on them, almost like you might touch someone’s shoulder when they’re struggling.”

Earlier in the 2016-17 school year, Rookie was part of a new program.

“She worked with some students earlier in the year more intensely with the ‘Read with Rookie’ program,” Bjella said. “We received a grant from Pride in the Tiger for that training. So that’s been really good. We’ve been able to have her read with them.”

A very select group of students were chosen to participate in the program.

“We have to select students who have a particular reading intervention need,” Bjella said. “And it has to be 1 on 1, so that’s a little more intensive in that we have to sit with her and do it. You can’t do it in a group situation.”

For the program, Rookie was taught to sit on a specific blanket while the student reads.

“It’s been really good, especially for students who might be more shy about reading to an adult or reading to a peer,” Bjella said. “They’re very willing to read to her. She has a specific blanket she sits on and she’s been taught to attend to the student has they read.”

The work they all do with students is valuable.

“Jen and I always say that every kid comes to school with their backpack full of books, and there’s other stuff in there, too, that they don’t even know they’re carrying,” Bjella said. “That can sometimes cloud their mind, and cloudy minds can’t learn.”

Bjella said it is their job to help the students let go of some of those thing, or at the very least, to help them cope with some of those things.

“We try to do that so they can be the most optimal learners,” she said. “Rookie helps us with that. Sometimes there are kids who maybe aren’t ready to visit with us, but they will pet her and they will calm down with her. She become the distraction they need, so they can get back on track for the day.”

A number of students come in and ask for “walks and talks” with Rookie.

“They’ll take her for a walk and then they seem to be more willing to talk,” Bjella said. “So we’ll walk and talk. It’s really easy to do now that spring is here. If it’s nice out, I’m more than happy to go outside for a walk.”

MMS assistant principal Jeff Hansen is Rookie’s host family. When there are conflicts in his schedule, other staff members volunteer.

“Everyone helps with walks and taking care of her,” Bjella said. “I would say everyone in this school takes ownership of Rookie. That’s what is so fun about being able to celebrate her birthday, to celebrate fun things.”

Of course, Rookie loves the students, too.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we’ll have her on a lease out front as we greet kids,” she said. “The kids just love seeing her in the morning. It’s such a positive thing for them to see her. I’d like to hope that she is maybe brightening a kid’s day who had a rough morning or something like that. All of us need that sometimes.”

With more than 700 students and roughly 85 staff members at MMS, Rookie has a lot of potential work to do. In addition to working with the fifth- through eighth-grade students, she also interacts with the preschoolers in the classrooms at MMS.

“She is just busy every day,” Bjella said. “But we have her breaks built in. She has a daily walk (with sixth-grade teacher Jean Mather) that she goes on midway through the day and she looks forward to that.”

Rookie then has a break in her kennel.

“(On Tuesday), I took her out in the hallway as the fifth- and sixth-graders were going back to their classes from lunch, so they could see her and wish her happy birthday,” Bjella said. “But she was definitely ready to go take her nap after that.”

Since she is what they call F2, Rookie is two parts poodle and one part golden retriever. Bjella said that it means she is more curly. She’s also more hypo-allergenic, which means people in the building aren’t allergic to her.

“It’s one of the reasons we selected Rookie,” Bjella said. “We’ve had no issues with her. She is a gift to our school for sure.”

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