By: Renae Elsaesser, Staff Writer
On December 22, therapy dogs will come to River Hill High School for the first time! The Fidos for Freedom Therapy Dog program provides trained dogs to provide emotional support for people in the community. Other Howard County public high schools such as Reservoir have also initiated this opportunity, which has been very successful so far.
With the increasing Covid cases, Dr. Martirano, the superintendent of HCPSS, initially made the decision to cancel all school activities like sports and clubs until January 15th, but then later announced that some schools and activities would be allowed to resume. Luckily, the therapy dogs will still visit River Hill. The plan is for River Hill students to meet these dogs during their lunch period and hopefully again in the future.
Mia Choi, the co-president of Active Minds, helped initiate this program at River Hill. Her efforts to establish the Fidos for Freedom program at River Hill were ultimately successful, thanks to the collaboration of Principal Lidgard and the Active Minds officers.
Mia believes “that Fidos for Freedom’s therapy dogs will improve students’ and staff’s mental health since it allocates time during the school day to alleviate any anxiety or stress that they may be facing in their classes.”
Ria Krishna, the outreach chair for Active Minds, was very involved in the process. Ria met with Ms. Lidgard to answer any questions about the program and solidify the event.
“The program is really amazing and our school has never really had anything like this before. I think that it would be super stress relieving especially with the stressful environment especially with seniors because of college apps right now,” Ria shares.
Also, Ria highlights that Fidos for Freedom can be trusted.
“We have also seen other schools in Howard County do this and it looks really successful. I think it’s going to be an amazing event,” Ria says.
Dhriti Vadlakanda, a student member of the board, is in favor of Fidos for Freedom.
Dhriti proclaims that therapy dogs are “ really going to uplift students’ spirits and contribute to the wellbeing of the school community. Mental health is one of the biggest problems we face as a society today and it’s especially prominent among students so it’s really nice to see mental health clubs taking action.”
Simon Hu, social media chair for Active Minds, believes that this is “an opportunity for staff to spend time with students outside of the classroom!”
Clearly, Fido’s for Freedom serves to bring the community together.
“In the coming months, I believe this program will help us grow and connect as a community,” Mia says.
Clearly, River Hill students are looking forward to seeing Fidos for Freedom therapy dogs, and hopefully, there will be more visits throughout the year.