Service Dogs in the Classroom

Members of the Board of Education were recently given a presentation by Sharon Antoszyk, PT,  DPT, and Nancy Kiger, MSPT, on the work they are doing with students using therapy animals.

During this presentation, Board Members were introduced to CAROLINE, the newest member of the CCS therapy staff.

Dogs provide companionship and love to most people. But for a child with a disability, a dog can offer much more. Cabarrus County Schools has several working dogs that serve children with disabilities in many of our regular education and self-contained EC classrooms. The dogs provide not only love and companionship but also help the children understand educational concepts, learn appropriate social skills and the motivation to try difficult things.

NIKKI and CAROLINE are part of a program called Paws4people. They are specially trained dogs that come to the schools to help children with disabilities learn and grow. Antoszyk and Kiger are CCS physical therapists. They, along with other members of their department, have developed a unique program that uses the dogs to help children learn new skills.