Page 24 2025 Animal Stories Lincoln Daily News February 2025 Comfort dogs in the classroom ease student anxieties Dr. Amber Jordan with Glacier - Photo by Matt Boutcher When you think about things you would find in a classroom, you probably imagine things like desks, whiteboards or chalkboards, pencils, etc. You probably do not imagine a dog in the classroom. Yet, there are studies to suggest that having therapy dogs in the classroom is not only important for the students’ mental and emotional health but can lead to increased learning for the students. According to research by the U.S. Department of Education, therapy dog visits in the classroom have shown to have “a) increased reading and language skills, b) social, emotional, and humane gains, and c) improved gross motor skills.” The increase in reading skills can be especially true when the students read to the dogs. Local educator Dr. Amber Jordan, teacher at Lincoln Junior High School (LJHS), has taken full advantage of this research in her classroom, getting the district to green light bringing her own therapy dogs in once per week. LDN was able to sit down with Dr. Jordan for an interview on why she does this and the impact she has seen in her class. Jordan has two Siberian Huskies named Glacier and Frost, and she brings one of them in each week, usually on Mondays. Jordan got this idea from one of her past students after they mentioned the idea of having a class pet, specifically a dog. After this discussion, Jordan went and got Glacier and Frost their therapy dog certifications. “I knew it was something Continued --
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