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Schools

MRH Dog-Walkers Have Their Own Club

Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School students learn about caring for dogs and even careers with dogs. They also discover the simple pleasure of walking a dog.

What better way to spend an afternoon on a school day—just days from summer break— than by taking a walk with a dog and your friends? More than a dozen students did just that Tuesday. They took a round-trip to the .

They're members of the MRH Middle School Dog-Walking Club, formed in the fall.

MRH Middle School teachers Dave Grossman and Alex Pepin are both dog-lovers, so they thought, why not a school club? They kicked it off in October, and it's been a huge hit.

"Dave and I both have a passion for our dogs and animals and wanted to come up with a club that promoted learning about dog behavior, and how you handle them, and everything that goes along with owning a dog, and then pets," Pepin said.

Grossman said they started by bringing in their own dogs.

"A lot of kids are terrified of dogs, especially in some of the more urban neighborhoods," he said. "We want to create an awareness of dogs, show people that dogs aren't something you have to fear."

Then they took a community tilt on it and contacted the (APA) in Brentwood. "They can come in and bring in professional resources that not only educate the people about the dogs, but then we can also work with community events, work with volunteering," Grossman said. "What we really want the kids to understand is that we are community, we can educate ourselves as a community, and we can use the APA as a resource."

Michelle Kodner of the APA said dogs are trained for the Pet Reach program to go into nursing homes and adult care, and they do educational programs about safety, kindness to animals and careers involving animals.

"We don't usually do this dog-walking thing, though," she said. "This is unique to MRH Middle School, so we were happy to get involved."

The students learn about a different aspect of dog care or behavior at each meeting. At the last meeting of the year, they talked about and protecting animals from people. They also learned about what happens with pets in disasters such as the .

On the other hand, they also learn the simple pleasure of walking a dog.

Margaret Anne brought her boxer to be walked by a student. "It was an inspired idea for the last days of school," she said. "Kids are so wired, all they're thinking about is 'Get out of school!' So to have dogs here and take them to the park, I'm sure the teachers appreciate that."

Club member Krystina Campos, a seventh-grader, said she likes dogs because they're soothing. "If you think about it, dogs are more relaxing than people are because people talk fast, and I think animals are really good listeners, so I'm a real animal person."

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