In October of 2016, Lampeter-Strasburg High School's Aevidum Club decided its next project would be getting a service dog to support its students. The club, which is dedicated to addressing and spreading awareness of students' mental health, knew the potential that dogs have for assisting students with issues like anxiety and school stress. Maya, a service dog trained through the Susquehanna Service Dogs program, arrived shortly thereafter and became the first member of the PAWS program.

PAWS, or Puppies Achieve Wonders for Students, now has four dogs: Maya, Monarch, Eagle and Gabby. Each member of the canine company is assigned to a different school in the area, where the dog comforts students and helps them decompress. "The kids soften when they see the dogs in the building. They might be tense or nervous because of a test, but teachers have commented that the difference is huge when the dogs come in," said Kristin Glass, a co-adviser of the Aevidum Club at Lampeter-Strasburg High School and a school psychologist for the district who helped start the PAWS program.

Each PAWS dog is specially trained for a specific task. For example, Maya has been trained in "deep pressure" tasks, which entail physically and emotionally comforting students experiencing episodes of anxiety attacks or stress. "She does what people can't do. I tell people she's my arm, because I can have her provide students with the comfort of a hug that I can't provide myself," said Glass.

Two years after Maya's arrival at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, the district's other schools began the process for acquiring service dogs. The positive impact of having an emotional support dog in school became apparent to school staff; today, having dogs in school is much more common than ever before. Service dog programs are being developed in Warwick, Manheim Central, Penn Manor, Pequea Valley and several other school districts. For more information on PAWS, search for "LS Paws Puppies Achieve Wonders for Students" on Facebook.

Glass has a long history of working with animals and has worked as a school psychologist for 16 years. Among her other endeavors, she has fostered over 15 dogs and serves as a board member for Greystone Manor Therapeutic Riding Center. "Once we had a dog in every building, I found myself wondering, 'What can I focus on now?'" said Glass. "Greystone Manor needed a board member, and I didn't know a lot about horses, but I know how animals can help people. I found myself not quite understanding everything about riding from being on the board, so I started volunteering." Every Saturday morning, Glass volunteers for barn duty at Greystone Manor. She mucks stalls, feeds the horses and lets them out into the pasture.

Greystone Manor provides therapeutic horse riding for students with disabilities. When riding, most students are accompanied by a team that consists of an instructor, a lead to guide the horse and a side-walker. Glass also volunteers as a side-walker; her primary duties as a side-walker are to encourage the rider and provide stability as he or she rides.

For more information on Greystone Manor, visit https://greystonemanortrc.org.