The benefits of a good Captain

Sometimes the greatest gift you can receive is a gift that keeps on giving. Especially one that can help many people of different ages with a variety of problems.

J.K. Hileman Elementary School in Queen City received a wonderful gift after Christmas this year, and it’s a gift that will keep on giving for years to come.

J.K. Hileman Principal Mandi Stringer came across the Hidden Acres Puppies’ Facebook page in December and noticed the business was running a “Giving Back” campaign as a way to bless communities.

Hidden Acres Puppies wanted to donate Captain the Cockapoo to one deserving charity, humanitarian organization or individual in need of a loving dog.

Hidden Acres Puppies is an organization that breeds dogs and helps get them trained to become great service animals for groups of people or individuals.

The company set up an application for veterans, single parent homes, adoptive parents, non-profits or other families or organizations looking for a service/emotional support dog, that can’t afford one otherwise.

They received many touching stories from some incredible people and found it hard to choose just one, but the letter they received from J.K. Hileman Elementary Principal Mandi Stringer really pulled at their heartstrings.

The letter read, “As a principal of an elementary school, I have researched and dreamed of providing our students at J.K. Hileman Elementary School with a campus dog. The number of children entering the classrooms each day needing social and emotional support has grown to an overwhelming number. Many students are children of trauma and having a dog on campus would benefit many children and staff each and every day.”

The amazing staff at J.K. Hileman Elementary won the campaign and so Captain the Cockapoo became a Bulldog.

Hidden Acres Puppies had this to say about Captain going to QC ISD.

“We feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community and it is an honor knowing one of our Hidden Acres Puppies will make such a positive impact on the lives of so many children. We want to say a huge thank-you to the administration at J.K. Hileman Elementary from Queen City. Without your caring hearts this would not have been possible.”

Of course, Principal Stringer’s initial reaction to all of this was sheer excitement.

“I was very excited. I opened an email on January 1, and really couldn’t believe that we had been chosen to receive Captain and then I had to begin the process of getting permission to receive the dog,” Principal Stringer said. “It was rewarding to think that someone had done something so generous and now so many are going to benefit from it.”

“We have almost 400 students here at J.K. Hileman and this dog will be owned by elementary therefore he will get to continue to influence lives for years to come,” Principal Stringer added. “I’m grateful for the support from the community, parents and our administration to welcome an idea that’s not traditional.”

As Principal Stringer said in her letter to Hidden Acres Puppies, this was something she’s been researching for a long time.

“I have been researching service animals in schools and how they can help children for about 10 years now. This actually started with a project I did with high school students visiting the Ronald McDonald Charity Houses in Little Rock,” Principal Stringer remarked. “They had a service dog there for the families that had children in the hospitals and our high school students always talked about how much they felt having a dog at school would help them so I began to do some research and have discovered that this is a way that schools can use dogs. I have also talked with other campuses in other cities that do have dogs on campus and asked about their program and how it worked.”

“This was a long-term goal for me to introduce to J.K. Hileman Elementary but in December I saw on the Hidden Acres Puppies’ Facebook page that they were giving back to the community by awarding a dog to a non-profit organization. So, I applied and wrote a story about J.K. Hileman Elementary and how I felt that our students could benefit having a dog on campus,” Principal Stringer added. “We have many students who have various needs. Some come from homes with trauma, and some come from good homes that experience anxiety and stress. After his training Captain will be able to help all students in many ways while they’re on campus each day.”

Principal Stringer has taught all levels of school from K to 12 in her career and has come across students of different ages that have different issues going on in their lives.

“I don’t think you can separate needing help by age. I think that any age, it doesn’t matter when something happens, it’s still going to be a defining moment in their lives,” Principal Stringer said. “I think that at an elementary level we want to create a family atmosphere for them to come into and having a dog to love on creates that even more so than what we can do as humans. Sometimes kids will open up to someone who can’t talk back to them and that’s why they say that a dog is man’s best friend. At any age level I feel that kids could benefit from having a service animal.”

Mental health is an important part of children’s overall health and well-being. Mental health includes children’s mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being. It affects how children think, feel, and act. It also plays a role in how children handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.

Mental health disorders in children are general- ly defined as delays or disruptions in developing age-appropriate thinking, behaviors, social skills or regulation of emotions. These problems are distressing to children and disrupt their ability to function well at home, in school or in other social situations.

The numbers posted on the internet are staggering. More than 4-in-10 (42 percent) students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third (29 percent) experienced poor mental health over the past few years.

More than 1-in-5 (22 percent) students seriously considered attempting suicide.

About 3-in-4 children with depression also had anxiety (73.8 percent) and almost 1-in-2 had behavior problems (47.2 percent).

Over the past few years students with ADHD was at 9.8 percent (approximately six million), anxiety 9.4 percent (approximately 5.8 million), behavior problems 8.9 percent (approximately 5.5 million) and depression 4.4 percent (approximately 2.7 million).

Through the comfort and companionship that service animals provide, students dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD and other types of mental disorders, may feel calmer and safer.

This is Principal Stringer and the staff at J.K. Hileman’s hope for Captain as he transitions into an emotional support dog for nearly 400 kids.

Hidden Acres Puppies delivered Captain to the elementary staff on Saturday, January 28. After a campus tour, Principal Stringer took him to a training facility in Texarkana where he will complete a 4–6-week service/therapy program.

Once he has reached his goals in that setting, he will receive his service animal vest and will join the elementary staff on campus to continue on-site training in his work environment. There will be a process the staff will follow as they introduce Captain to the student body.

He will first reside in the counselor’s office where she will allow students with specific needs to visit him on a scheduled basis.

Once he is acclimated to his environment, he will begin visiting classrooms where all students will interact with him. The staff’s final goal will be for Captain to enjoy time on the playground with a grade level at a time allowing all students to interact with the dog.

The school is doing a fundraiser to be able to raise funds for service training, food, and supplies to help settle Captain in his new home at J.K. Hileman Elementary.

For every dollar given, the student will receive a paw print with their name on Captain’s welcome wall. The class that collects the most money will host Captain’s welcome party.

When Captain gets settled into his new home Principal Stringer believes over time the kids, staff, parents, community and administration will see the benefits of a good Captain.