Two Jasper schools welcomed a couple of unconventional staff members earlier this week.
T.R. Simmons Elementary School and Maddox Intermediate School added facility dogs on Monday.
T.R. Simmons welcomed Hobbs, a 4-year-old black lab to its school, while Barrett, a 2-year-old black lab who is Hobbs’ nephew, joined Maddox the same day.
The dogs were trained by Service Dogs Alabama (SDA). According the the group’s website, SDA facility dogs are trained for intervention tasks and to work with multiple people. They are chosen for this particular training when their personalities are confident enough to work off-leash without direction. They must be able to act independently of their handler when they seek out the children/people who need them.
Facility dogs are awarded to schools, youth facilities, juvenile probation officers and judges as courtroom and interview dogs, and state agencies where stress is prevalent daily such as police departments, fire departments and departments managing crime or human trauma.
“Hobbs and Barrett are welcomed additions to our school system,” Superintendent Ann Jackson said on Monday. “I have already seen Barrett making an impact today at Maddox.”
The dogs currently must remain with one of their two trainers at each school, but in the coming weeks, once the animals are familiar with their surroundings, they will be allowed to freely move inside classrooms. Hobbs and Barrett are trained to sense anxiety in students to help break disruptive or self-defeating behavior.
“We’ve had Hobbs here at T.R. for three days now, and I have seen them already have a positive influence on a different student each day,” said Samantha Jones, one of the handlers at the elementary school.
Marc Sargent, principal at Maddox, said he is excited about the impact that Barrett will have on students at the school.
“It’s fascinating what these dogs can do and how they sense issues,” Sargent said. “Our students were excited about the idea as soon as they heard about Barrett.”
Each handler spent five days in training with the dogs before bringing them back to schools. Several school boards in the state now have facility dogs, but Hobbs and Barrett are the first two facility dogs to be used in the Walker County area.
“This is another way that we can positively impact our students,” Jackson said. “That’s our focus in everything we do. We want to make a positive impact and to give our students every opportunity to allow them to be successful.”
