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A Polk County social worker who met with a student at Crookston High School who was a possible abuse victim is crediting a therapy dog stationed at the school with helping the student tell his story.
Near the conclusion of Monday's Crookston School Board meeting, Superintendent Wayne Gilman read the letter written by the social worker, who said the teen wasn't making eye contact with the social worker and was silent. Then the therapy dog came by, entered the room and immediately sat down right next to the boy, the social worker wrote. The teen started petting the dog and soon "was telling his whole story into the dog's calming fur," Gilman read. The teen became emotional and apologized for crying.
The social worker said she would have never gotten the "disclosure" had the therapy dog not entered the room. Now social services is working with the family to make things better.
"We see these dogs every day in school and they affect everyone they come in contact with," Gilman said after reading the letter. "It's a nice piece that we have in the schools."
Newsroom bloggers include Managing Editor Mike Christopherson and News/Features Editor Natalie J. Ostgaard.
