Therapy Dog Will Enrich Some Burlington County Students' Learning Experience

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Lily, a dog that is an American Staffordshire terrier-pug-chow mix, will help improve some New Albany Elementary School students' learning experience in several ways, a school administrator and Lily's handler said in interviews.

The school year that recently ended was about getting Lily used to her surroundings in the school, according to Julia Zimecki, who works in the Cinnaminson Township School District's Special Services Unit.

"We worked really hard," Gabriela Roach, Lily's handler, told Patch. "We did a lot of work to get her well-trained, listen to us and be calm."

In the upcoming school year, Lily will work the same group of students and have a greater part in the students' learning process, Zimecki added.

For example, "some kids in the classroom might have difficulties reading or be fearful reading out loud," Roach said. "So if you're reading to a dog, they're not judging you. [Dogs] can give [kids] that confidence and the practice and that safe space."

The vast majority of the school's parents were receptive to the idea of a dog in their child's classroom, Roach and Zimecki said.

The school district will do its best to find similar ways to accommodate the children of the few parents who expressed concern (either due to a child's allergy, fear or otherwise) about the dog's presence, the women added.

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