PANAMA CITY BEACH West Bay Elementary School has welcomed a new four-legged friend to help students on campus.
Kelly Dean, a counselor at West Bay, owns Murphy and has been trying for years to get him on campus as a therapy dog. Murphy and Dean are certified and Dean is tested every two years to renew the certification.
Murphy is a 5-year-old poodle/Bernese mountain dog mix.
Dean worked with students leading up to Murphy s arrival on campus a few weeks ago by teaching them how to interact with him. She taught them to ask if they could approach Murphy and pet him, to only interact with him two at a time and that Murphy is a licker.
When Reding was told that she was a top five finalist, one of her students shouted that she deserved to be teacher of the year. That should give insight on how she is viewed as a teacher.
Reding broke out in tears when she was announced as the winner and choked up after thanking the people important in her life. Reding said doubt crept into her mind about whether or not she could win. I watched all of the other teachers videos and thought, Oh, they re so amazing and they re going to win, so I was quite surprised when my name was announced, Reding said. It means so much because it helps me realize how important my career is and my efforts do matter.