CAMPUS
6
December 2018
Therapy dogs reduce student stress Alena Ruhstaller
It’s the end of the school day and all you can think about is getting home, how much homework you have, and estimating how much sleep you’ll get that night. The sound of your dog’s collar filters through the front door. A small black nose pokes outside as you enter the house, and with this, you drop everything. Your dog leaps on you in excitement the second they see you. At that moment, the concern of completing assignments and handling all of your stress washes away. Imagine a dog that is specifically trained to relieve stress. According to the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, the idea of animal-assisted therapy was utilized in Ancient Greece, where animals, specifically horses, were used to raise the spirits of the ill. Throughout his work in the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, Dr. Sigmund Freud used dogs in his psychological studies to lower levels of anxiety in young patients. Freud believed that dogs had the best understanding of the human character, and his experiments triggered further scientific research behind the effects that dogs have on mental, physical, and psychological human health. “Scientific studies have shown that when we look into the eyes of and pet a dog, our oxytocin levels rise, which makes us feel good,” said Jean Cary, a dog trainer for
Service Dog Tutor. “When this hormone level rises, our blood pressure lowers and our breathing slows down.” Therapy dog training has been regulated since 1989, where the Delta Society, an organization focused on animal education, created a certification program to ensure the success of the training process. “Dogs that are eligible to be trained to become therapy dogs must be over one year old, have to be housebroken, not pee on the floor in stressful environments, and must be reliable and can no longer be a teenager,” Cary said. “Eligible dogs must be evaluated by a vet and prove to be healthy and be able to withstand discomfort by not responding to a squeeze of the paw. If they pass the vet test, the dogs must complete beginning and intermediate training and be capable to all basic things, like sit and stay with seven other dogs in the room to pass the Therapy Dog International (TDI) test.” After completing the training process and passing the TDI test, owners volunteer their therapy dogs to attend hospitals, schools, and nursing homes to provide relief and comfort for patients and students. “Dogs are so powerful in a hospital setting and for students because they are completely nonjudgemental, live in the moment, and love to be cared and talked to,” Cary said. “For people that are lonely or don’t feel like they
Kimberly Mitchell
Bella, an 8-year-old Bichon Frise therapy dog, smiles up at her owner while playing. are part of something, the unconditional love and acceptance of a dog is truly something very powerful.” ASB’s Human Relations Commission has harnessed the concept of using animal-assisted therapy by holding Dogs in the Quad twice a year before finals weeks of both the fall and spring semesters “The Human Relations Commission began Dogs in the Quad because we want to help take away the stress level of the student body and hope to add more happiness in their lives,” said Azucena Duran, a junior and member of the Human Relations Commission. By working with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in San Mateo,
the Human Relations Commission is able to provide the student body with trained therapy dogs and caretakers during finals weeks. According to Duran, therapy dogs uplift student spirit during an otherwise stressful time. “I’ve definitely seen students come to Dogs in the Quad and leave the event laughing and having smiles across their faces,” Duran said. “The dogs put them in a better mood overall.” Apart from making appearances at schools in order to reduce student stress, a therapy dog’s training is mainly aimed to supply patients in hospitals and nursing homes with emotional and psychological support. “After working in medicine and
surgery for 11 years, I’ve learned how comforting it is to have a dog in a stressful environment,” Cary said. “My dogs comforted me in these stressful environments and realized that it would help others too. I’ve visited 14 different hospitals with my therapy dogs and found it extremely rewarding to see miracles happen.” Despite whether or not a dog is trained as a therapy dog, the presence of a pet in one’s life encompasses a sphere of love and appreciation. “My dogs are basically family, and to me, their lives are as valuable as any humans’ is,” said Valentina Baehrle, a junior. “They’ve provided me emotional support just by being their innocent joyful selves.”
Carlmont flexes new schedule options Nihal Karim
Nihal Karim
Carlmont will experiment with different types of schedules in the upcoming years, according to the school’s administration. In an email sent to Carlmont students, Jennifer Cho, the Instructional Vice Principal, notified students that two different bell schedules will pilot during the 2019-20 school year in order to determine which schedule is more favorable. “Our goal is to see what gives us the most flexibility and what works best for the students and the staff,” said Gigi Kruse-Silva, a science teacher and a member of the Bell Schedule Committee (BSC). The decision was made after the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) self-study process during the 2017-18 school year. Since both students and teachers requested more time to work with each other, the WASC visiting committee recommended a change of the traditional bell schedule. The BSC met to discuss different options for block scheduling, and eventually decided to focus on exploring Flex time, also known as the Flex period. Flex time allows for a 30 minute time period during which students have the opportunity to ask their teachers for help, make up missed tests, do homework, etc. The incentive behind Flex time is to give students extra time to catch up on work and relax during the school day without taking away their lunch time. “I have some hard classes and don’t always have time to ask teachers for help, so I feel like Flex time would benefit me,” freshman Brandon Tran said.
Although many students find Flex time beneficial, the administration would need to create the time to fit it into the schedule. The school day can not be longer, since that would increase the total number of instructional minutes, so an alternative method would need to be found. In order to implement the Flex period without modifying school day hours, the administration will either have to shorten class time, or introduce either a modified or a full block schedule. “Even if we do decide to have a block schedule, it most likely be either Flex or a modified block, but not a full block,” Kruse-Silva said. In a modified block, each week consists of mostly regular school days with block only two days of the week, while a full block has mostly block days with a regular school day only once week. Unlike the Flex period, block schedule has a lot of debate surrounding it. Although some students and staff are supportive of it, many argue that it would not be helpful. “A lot of my teachers teach until the last minute, and they all have their lessons planned out to fit the 50 minute classes,” Will Sherlock, a senior, said. “What we have right now works and I think that changing things is pointless.” Even though the change of schedule is seen as unnecessary, the administration is going to experiment with different types of block schedules in order to accomodate for the needs expressed by students and teachers during the WASC process. A majority of the schools in the district have already implemented block, but Carlmont is still uncertain about it, since many students
and teachers find it challenging in a variety of ways. Longer class times cause issues for both students and teachers during block days, thus making it less favorable among some students and staff members. “During block days, teachers tend to lose their total number of instructional minutes. In addition to that, many students have trouble focusing on the material during longer classes,” Kruse-Silva said. Although Carlmont only has block schedule during special events, such as assemblies or testing, the possible incorporation of a modified or full block schedule sparks debate. “If we have a modified block, there would be times when I can miss a day when I don’t have those classes, but if I do have them, it means I would miss a double-lecture day,” Kaitlyn Parohinog, a junior, said. The permanent incorporation of block schedule has challenges. Some students say it can benefit their schoolwork and help them deal with stress, while others find it chaotic. Students tend to be against block schedule due to its longer class periods. “I think that block periods are too long,” Sherlock said. “It gives you strange structures and just messes up everything.” While Carlmont does plan to experiment with different types of block schedules, it is still unclear whether or not a permanent block schedule will replace the traditional one in the upcoming years. “We want to see what works best for both the students and the teachers,” KruseSilva said. “While a full block probably won’t happen, we might try a modified block or the Flex period.”