Southeastern Elementary has a new member of its staff – just don’t judge her if she decides to take a brief nap on the job or eats her lunch on all fours.
Staff at Southeastern spent some time last Thursday before Fall Break to introduce students to their new facility dog Karma. She is a 2-year-old Golden Retriever that has been extensively trained by Paws With A Cause, a national nonprofit that trains assistance dogs, which is located in Wayland.
Karma is not the only facility dog in the Hastings Area School System, either. She joins a roster of four other dogs spread throughout the various schools in the district. Southeastern used to have a facility dog named Beasley, until the dog retired from the job. Karma now fills that void, but for the first week, students are asked not to touch Karma as she becomes acclimated to the school. Students settled for waving and talking to Karma when they first met her.
“She’s going to be spending all next week in the office. No one can touch her,” Principal Wilson told students during an assembly to introduce Karma. “It will be really hard because Karma is going through a bunch of training.”
“Eventually she’ll be in classrooms, on field trips in the lunchroom and on the playground, but she has to learn first,” Principal Wilson added. “It’s super exciting and she’s super sweet.
Facility dogs have both building handlers – those that handle the dog while at school – and a home handler. Principal Wilson and Mr. VanBemden are Karma’s building handlers, and at the end of the day, Karma goes home with second-grade teacher Mrs. Alexander.
"I’ve always loved dogs and animals. I have another (dog) at home, who is 7, but I always wanted to have a dog that I could train like this and bring to a facility," Mrs. Alexander said. "When the opportunity came, I accepted it quickly.”
Paws With A Cause trains dogs, so Karma is extensively trained already. However, Mrs. Alexander will receive several weeks of training from the organization to learn how to properly handle Karma.
Students at Southeastern, and throughout the rest of the district, have reaped the benefits of having a four-legged friend inside of their buildings when needed.
“It’s sort of a treat for (students),” Mrs. Alexander said. “These dogs are trained to detect emotions. They can kind of sense when there is anxiety. It’s good to have that kind of support – it’s helpful for a lot of our kids.”