Applause for her Paws

by Veronica Gutierrez and Macy Waid

Golden Retriever Maggie is the MRGS therapy dog. As of the summer of 2022, Maggie has been attendinding Gov School and supporting students. Principal Susan Fream decided to fully certify Maggie due to the wide range of schools the students attend. “Every school division is slightly different about what they require in order to be a therapy dog. In Shenandoah County to have a therapy dog, they must be a canine good citizen, which means they have passed that test. They don't require that they're actually certified through a therapy dog organization,”  Fream said. “However, other school divisions like Rockingham require that they are certified through an outside organization, which is why I wanted to go ahead and go through the entire process with her just because I know that their expectations are different in different places.” 

Besides helping MRGS kids, Maggies has also made an impact on the students of Mountain View. “Her job isn't to help the kids at Mountain View, but she gets a lot of visitors from Mountain View as well…They check her schedule regularly so that they know when she's going to be here, and they will make this part of their route if they know that she's here that day,” Fream said. Though Maggie is young (two years old), she has already made a huge impact on the people around her.

Maggie has had a positive impact on the students at MRGS. She greets us in the mornings, runs around our classrooms, and plays with us during break. It’s obvious that everyone lights up when she’s around. Maggie is always eager to say hello when anyone walks by.

Maggie is described by students as cute, happy, bubbly, positive, soft, lovable, excitable, playful, and joyous. She has also been described as overly energetic. As an emotional support dog, she needs to learn to be calm in certain situations. Although students appreciate her friendliness, we understand that she isn’t supposed to jump up on people. Thankfully, Maggie has learned a lot from her time at MRGS. Senior Graham Roulston says, “The first day Maggie joined us she was a bit untrained. She was a young puppy who wanted to jump and kiss people. Since then, she has grown to be a trained, but still lovable, emotional support dog.”

Maggie has even changed people’s perspective on dogs and animals in general. Junior Gio Sanchez-Garcia says, “Maggie is really cool to have around at Gov. School because, personally, I don't really like animals, but Maggie has made me feel very comfortable and welcome at Gov School. I really appreciate that.” Maggie’s attitude has the capability of improving someone’s day. Junior Drew Lankford says, “I just love Maggie; she's just the light of my life. Every time we walk in, people are playing with Maggie, which makes me feel so warm inside. It's like all the cold, even though it's 20 degrees outside, defrosts. It feels like I'm next to a fire.”

Maggie has also helped students in the classroom. Lankford says, “She helps me focus. [For example], in Ms. Fream's college workshops, Maggie is running around. I can just focus on classwork so much better with her there. Everything's calm.”