BROOKWOOD, Ala. (WBRC) – One Tuscaloosa County School got a big boost to be able to help students…
Brookwood Elementary School got a big check to help maintain its new facility dog.
Marshall is an 8-month-old poodle and offers emotional support, comfort and motivation to kids who may be feeling down.
“These dogs are trained to love and comfort everyone, and people can interact with them. When you have a service dog, that dog is mitigating one person’s disability. And so, you don’t interact with that dog because the dog needs to focus on the person,” explained Kelly Schaeffer, the founder and Executive Director of Fido’s Facility Dogs. “So, these dogs get loved on by everybody.”
Marshall’s transition to Brookwood Elementary School became much easier after the school received a $4,000 scholarship check in memory of Joshua Devin Bush.
Bush was diagnosed with an eye disorder causing him to go blind when was 14 years old.
He died before he could get a seeing eye dog.
Bush’s family wanted to help children who could be dealing with stress or trauma.
“My best friend who owned Fitgerald’s Poodles donated a dog in his name. And we came up with the scholarship in his name, the Joshua Devin Bush Scholarship, so that other children could get a therapy dog – that’s what a facility dog is – so they could help children,” explained Khristy Early, Devin’s Mother.
The school principal says Marshall has a home at Brookwood Elementary.
“We have lots of kids at Brookwood Elementary School that really deal with trauma, in their house, from their life,” said Ashley Leath, the Brookwood Elementary School Principal. “So, to really have something that is an animal that supports them and provides a calm for them is really an exciting thing for us.”
Leath says trauma can be everything from parents getting divorced to the death of a loved one.
The grant helps the school pay for Marshall and his care as the school’s facility dog.
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