Giving Compass' Take:

· After seeing success in New York City's first comfort dog program, Chalkbeat reports that the program will be expanding to sixty schools by the end of this school year. According to Danielle Yurkew, the program uses the loving relationship between children and animals to teach life lessons such as empathy, cooperation and self confidence.

· How do comfort dogs help students manage stress? What benefits are noticeable from this program? 

· Read more on social-emotional learning and teaching empathy in the classroom. 

Inside the main office of Shell Bank Middle School in Sheepshead Bay, a Post-it note sat on an administrator’s desk beside an empty lunch plate. The note read, “It wasn’t me, love Brody.” On the floor was a leaf of lettuce, the only remaining evidence of a sandwich that once belonged to school aide Sarah Giglio.

“It’s a labor of love,” Giglio said with a laugh as she reached down to pick up the food scraps, referring to life with Brody, the oversized and rambunctious dog that is one of five comfort dogs who spends all day at the school.

Classroom-ready comfort dogs have been a part of school life in New York City since 2014. Now in 45 schools, the comfort dog program will expand to 60 schools by the end of the school year, the city announced last week.

Read the full article about New York City's first comfort dog program by Danielle Yurkew at Chalkbeat.