News & Events

Thomas Jefferson High School, Jefferson Hills, Pa. 15025

Description: The teams were located in 2 main areas (the guidance office room and the "chill" room). Two teams were in the guidance room and 1 team in the "Chill Room" - students came to these spaces in small groups of approximately 10-15 students for a duration of 20-30 minutes; when one group left another group came. At noon each team that were in the guidance room went to a different classrooms to interact with the kids during their PLT (study hall). Over the course of the day, each team took 2-3 breaks, by 1pm the teams needed to finish up (dogs were ready to be done). Although the end time was noted as 2pm, the staff were very understanding that the dogs were running out of steam. The guidance counselors and teachers were very helpful and flexible - they had a plan to organize the teams so that all students could visit with the dogs. The students and staff were very supportive and appreciative of our efforts and impressed with the impact of the dogs on the kids. Overall it was a great day with most students having an opportunity to visit with at least one of the dog teams at least once (and some students multiple times). The dogs brought lots of smiles - the students and staff were very appreciative of the efforts of HOPE AACR. We also did some education about HOPE and distributed brochures.