The OBSERVERâs View
Jan 19, 2021
It’s an idea that is all about the dogs — and in the Gowanda Central School district it appears as though there could be many barking their support.
A proposal for a therapy dog in the district was led by Gowanda Elementary School’s social worker, Carmen Muscarella, and school resource officer, Ben Shields, during a recent meeting earlier this month.
“This is something that’s really exciting,” Muscarella said. “I have thought about this and researched this for probably a good eight years. Over the last couple years I’ve been contemplating it.”
Some of the benefits for having a therapy dog at school include improved academics, increased attendance rates, an improved overall school climate, an increased motivation and incentive. Muscarella also noted that having a dog in a school can also teach empathy to students, which can be difficult to teach otherwise.