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Dogs paw their way to students’ hearts
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Two of the larger dogs took a break before a rush of students come in to play. Sparky (left) is a greyhound and a retired racer. Jaeger is a weimaraner who has survived cancer.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Students visited several therapy dogs during the day on Dec. 3. The dogs allowed the students to enjoy a time of relaxation.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Sparky, a K9 for Compassion therapy dog, visited Austintown Fitch High School on Dec. 3. A group of seniors put together a day for students to play with therapy dogs for a donation toward the K9 For Compassion organization.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Students at Austintown Fitch visited the dogs all day, multiple times a day. The first time the students visited, there was a minimum one dollar donation to benefit K9's For Compassion.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Various dog breeds are part of the K9's for Compassion organization. A golden-doodle was one of the many dogs that visited Austintown Fitch.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Four high school students at Austintown Fitch High School worked with K-9’s for Compassion to bring therapy dogs to the school on Dec. 3.
Derek Gunter, Jared Kapturasky, Sarah Obradovich and Maddie Scrocco coordinated with K-9’s for Compassion for their senior service project. Students at Austintown Fitch had the opportunity to come and play with the therapy dogs throughout the day with a minimum one dollar donation.
“There was a service project we had to do for some sort of charity work,” said Kapturasky. “We brought the dogs in to help raise money for their foundation.”
Several volunteers brought in their therapy dogs to allow the students to relax during a busy time in their school schedule. Therapy dogs bring comfort, relaxation and affection. Many of the dogs have different stories behind them. One of the dogs, Sparky, was a retired racing dog before he was adopted and became a therapy dog.
Students came in during their lunches and study room periods, or during their class time if their teachers allowed them. Many students even came in multiple times throughout the school day to play with the dogs.
“It’s a really stressful time right now for students because there is so much going on. We really just wanted students to be relaxed and to de-stress,” said Scrocco.
There was a group of four dogs that arrived first and stayed for the first part of the morning. The seniors said after those dogs left there was a break to count the money and students that attended. Scrocco mentioned that during the first couple hours they raised more than $300 and had more than 120 students visit. The students were hoping to raise more than $500 by the end of the school day to donate to K-9’s for Compassion. All proceeds raised during this event were donated.