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The Eagle Plymouth North High School Issue 1 November 2024
PNHS Welcomes Comfort Dog, “Sasha” Sasha is welcomed into the school as an official comfort dog as of the 2024-2025 school year
Sasha, PNHS Comfort Dog Photo Courtesy of Amy Lee
By Vivian Langton Sasha was then officially welcomed into the Plymouth Police Department and named a police comfort dog at the end of July 2024 at 8 months old. The process of getting her certified took 2 weeks but her training is only just beginning. Each day, Officer Ireland works with her and is doing training exercises. He also tracks her progress and her achievements in a notebook. Sasha has been involved in the community for only a short amount of time but has already provided comfort and support to many individuals. She has been to different events around the Plymouth area to provide support to every individual possible. Principal Parcellin said, regarding the success of the implementation. Since Sasha has been introduced to PNHS, she has been able to de-escalate situations between students by providing a mediation. According to Parcellin, there have been no challenges implementing the Comfort Dog Program and he gives credit to Officer Ireland for being dedicated to making this happen. “Officer Ireland being as great as he is, has helped that happen.” Parcellin said. As Sasha is still a puppy, she has a lot of energy but she is headed toward a lifetime of bringing positivity to our community. “This is the best thing that’s happened at this school,” Officer Shawn
Ireland said, after remembering an encounter with a student, and this is a consensus from teachers and students alike. Plymouth North welcomed Sasha, a comfort dog into the community as of the 2024-2025 school year and is making a positive impact on many different levels. Police comfort dogs serve many roles. They are trained to detect high levels of stress and can comfort those affected by this anxiety and also comfort victims experiencing loss and coping with grief. The dogs are trained to “interrupt the stress cycle” by providing support. For example, they might put a paw on a person’s lap or nuzzle their face. Comfort dogs, like Sasha, are also able to help connect police officers with the community. Some may feel intimidated or unsure about officers but a friendly dog allows community members to feel more comfortable to engage with officers. Officer Ireland presented this program to Principal Parcellin and his police captain and from the start, everyone was on board. There was then an application for the grant that went through the Police department, to receive funding for this program. There was a 6 month to a year-long process to make sure the right dog was chosen not only for the school but for Officer Ireland personally, as Sasha resides with him and his family.
Plymouth North High School is Named a “Unified Champion School” by the Special Olympics PNHS pursues the highest level of social inclusion, student leadership, and school-wide engagement through Unified Athletics to become a Special Olympics Unified Champion School By Jennifer Cormier-Fosdick For years, Plymouth North has excelled with inclusion in many aspects of high school whether athletics, whole school events, or everyday activities and tasks. But just recently, PNHS has been selected as a Champion School by the Special Olympics, excelling in areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. PNHS has been recognized as a Champion School by the Special Olympics for outstanding commitment in areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. It highlights North’s dedication to include students both with and without disabilities in all aspects of school life. While Unified Sports is a great model for inclusion in the school community, it took every person to achieve and uphold the fundamental principles it takes to earn and even be eligible for this award. “This is not just a Unified award, it’s a Plymouth North award, and we would not have received it without every human in this building being a part of it,” Lauren Allen, Coach of Unified Sports said. “It’s not just about including students with special needs into sports; inclusion should be with everybody.” North has received this honor for modeling inclusion across all aspects of the school community. “Being inclusive allows students to be mentors for our unified athletes,” Captain of Unified Track and Field, Callie Flora, said. “Through unified programs, students at North can participate in helping and learning about the importance of accepting those who are different from themselves.”
With the entire school ready and willing to participate in opportunities for inclusion and excellence, North is able to uphold the ten national standards of excellence to become a Champion School. With events that involve the entire school community such as the “Unified Basketball Bonanza,” providing leadership roles to student captains, and fostering the growth of Unified programs, North has been able to meet these standards. “We meet three pillars: one is having Unified sports, two is having student leadership involving students with and without special needs, then also having whole school engagement, so we meet those criteria every year, but the national status is one step up from that with an application process and we are able to exemplify ten standards of excellence,” said Mrs. Allen. North has been demonstrating inclusive values for years, but through a special application process, we were able to be nationally recognized for excellence in social inclusion.
Mrs. Allen said, “It started with collecting evidence throughout all of last school year and in the spring I had to fill out an actual application that was pretty extensive; it ended up being about a four page written application and then including a multimedia presentation with evidence.” In her presentation, collecting pictures, videos, and quotes from students, Mrs. Allen was at the forefront of this whole process. She has created environments for students to thrive and also led the way for North to become a Champion school. “It is all because of her hard work and dedication to all students that North has been able to be recognized as a Champion school,” said Mr. Domingos.
The Unified program is an excellent opportunity to get Aaron Greenlaw, Senior Unified Athlete Photo Courtesy of Serena Ball involved with inclusion at its core. Although the title of Champion school is used to reflect accomplishments throughout the entire Recognition goes far beyond Unified sports, but it is necessary to school, Unified sports have been a major player in promoting inclusivity. remember the driving force behind this achievement, which is the By teaching students the importance of inclusion and equity within the community and opportunity fostered by all students in the Unified program. school community Unified is an extremely valuable program. While there is no physical award for this achievement, North is able to “Unified is transformative in that it brings both students with and become a part of a new inclusive community. “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in these programs and without disabilities together to train and compete as teammates,” Athletic encourage all those who have the time to join!” said Flora. Director, Mr. Domingos said. “If you feel like you belong, you contribute Mrs. Allen said, “I just hope that our school community can take what we’ve more to the culture, and are willing to uphold and hold others accountable learned from Unified and use that to grow and include all groups of students. It's for core values that are shared amongst the school community.” about having a sense of belonging.”