Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School experienced a horrific tragedy in 2018 when 17 students and staff members were murdered. As you can imagine, the end of the school year was a rough time for all parties involved. The students have been given the chance to spend time with therapy dogs in order to cope. 14 therapy dogs were provided to the grieving children and now they are receiving some recognition of their own.
These dogs help the students in a number of ways. Sometimes, the children need hugs. In other instances, the dogs simply lend a sympathetic ear. Their efforts are certainly not going to go unacknowledged. The therapy dogs have been given their very own page in the school yearbook. The yearbook staffers believed that this was the right choice after such a tough year.
If not for the help of these dogs, the students would have had a much more difficult time. The school is still in the healing process. The dogs play a major role in their growth process. Caitlynn Tibbetts is the editor of chief of the school yearbook. She has spoken about the importance of balancing emotions. Of course, she wanted the yearbook to be as perfect as possible.
Including the therapy/service dogs in the yearbook is the best decision we’ve made so far like this one dog had a bowtie and my heart ???????????? pic.twitter.com/ecP9X01wqD
— natasha (@sighnatasha) October 4, 2018
It is only natural to feel this way after such a devastating event. The school needs to be represented, without too much wallowing in the past. What’s done is done and now it is time to move forward. However, moving forward can be hard to do. That is why the school wished to acknowledge the dogs who have been so helpful in this regard.
Sarah Lerner is the yearbook adviser and she says that there is nothing that a dog cannot fix. Even the oldest children are getting in touch with their mushy side and they have these therapy dogs to thank for that. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students are beyond appreciative. The therapy dogs were even invited to picture day and they also accompanied students to their prom.
Just a few of the puppies who took pictures today… Grace, Emma & Chief were so happy to be included in the yearbook. pic.twitter.com/GYeSgyhMcv
— Aerie Yearbook (@AerieYearbook) October 3, 2018
This yearbook serves as a historical record of everything that is taken place, without providing any further attention to the past tragedy. If you loved this idea as much as we did, be sure to pass this story along to your closest friends and loved ones as soon as possible. They are sure to appreciate all of the efforts that has been put in by these therapy dogs when it comes to helping grief-stricken students.
