Whitko Community Schools K-9 Project
Donation protected
My name is Tim Clark and I am the School Resource Officer for Whitko Community Schools in Northeastern Indiana.
A year ago, the idea of welcoming a dual purpose therapy and detection K-9 into our Whitko family took shape. Unfortunately the rise of Covid-19 coincided with this idea, hindering our ability to provide this asset to our schools.
We are a small, rural school corporation that houses approximately 1,350 students and staff amongst our 4 school buildings (Whitko Jr./Sr. High School, Whitko Career Academy, Pierceton Elementary School and South Whitley Elementary School).
As a resource officer serving everyday inside of our schools, I witness firsthand the struggles some of out students face. Whether it be issues with mental health, anxiety or behavior disorders, I generally see situations everyday where a school K-9 would be a tremendous asset in our buildings.
Therapy animals have the ability to reach people on a level that humans simply cannot. Some of our youth go through unimaginable trauma at home and school is an 8-hour break from that volatile home life. Some of our youth have pre-existing issues with mental health while others have trouble with anxiety or social situations. It is also hard to imagine the mental anguish our children (let alone adults) are facing in the midst of the pandemic. These and so many more are instances where a school K-9 would go to great lengths in assisting our staff in helping this particular group of students.
Additionally, this K-9 would provide a daily morale boost to all who come into contact with him or her. This animal will have the ability to follow me around while performing my daily duties as a school resource officer, offering social interaction and fun to all of our staff and students, K-12.
As a dual purpose K-9, being able to assist in keeping our campuses drug free would be an additional asset to our community. Our goal is to also have the K-9 trained in tracking in the event a student runs away or is lost given the rural nature of our school district.
Outside of the school day, my vision is that our K-9 will be visible at some extra curricular schools functions and sporting events, community events, festivals and other situations where having our K-9 socializing with the community is appropriate.
The K-9 would also have the ability to visit neighboring school districts if asked, especially in times of grief. For instance, during the 2019-20 school year, our school district was devastated by two student tragedies weeks apart from one-another. During that time an outside therapy dog was brought in to assist our students who sought the comfort of this animal. Having our very own K-9 to assist our students or neighboring districts in situations like these adds to the immeasurable impacts this animal would have on our community.
Our goal in bringing this four-legged friend to our community has some funding hurdles to overcome, including providing a K-9 equipped vehicle to keep our new friend safe. In a time where budgets are tight and businesses are feeling the economic pinch, we have to be as creative as possible in our attempts to bring this wonderful asset to fruition.
To fully complete our mission of funding this animal and a means of adequate and practical transportation, a goal of $65,000 was set. As of mid-May we have raised over $45,000 of this goal through grants as well as community and business donations.
Now I am asking for the help of our community and anyone across the world interested in helping. My hope is that you will see the present and future impact this animal will have for our children and greater Whitko Community and be able to assist in our mission. These children are the future!
If you have any questions my email is [email redacted]
(If you are a business we have a 501(c)(3) account set up as well you can inquire about)
Thank you!
A year ago, the idea of welcoming a dual purpose therapy and detection K-9 into our Whitko family took shape. Unfortunately the rise of Covid-19 coincided with this idea, hindering our ability to provide this asset to our schools.
We are a small, rural school corporation that houses approximately 1,350 students and staff amongst our 4 school buildings (Whitko Jr./Sr. High School, Whitko Career Academy, Pierceton Elementary School and South Whitley Elementary School).
As a resource officer serving everyday inside of our schools, I witness firsthand the struggles some of out students face. Whether it be issues with mental health, anxiety or behavior disorders, I generally see situations everyday where a school K-9 would be a tremendous asset in our buildings.
Therapy animals have the ability to reach people on a level that humans simply cannot. Some of our youth go through unimaginable trauma at home and school is an 8-hour break from that volatile home life. Some of our youth have pre-existing issues with mental health while others have trouble with anxiety or social situations. It is also hard to imagine the mental anguish our children (let alone adults) are facing in the midst of the pandemic. These and so many more are instances where a school K-9 would go to great lengths in assisting our staff in helping this particular group of students.
Additionally, this K-9 would provide a daily morale boost to all who come into contact with him or her. This animal will have the ability to follow me around while performing my daily duties as a school resource officer, offering social interaction and fun to all of our staff and students, K-12.
As a dual purpose K-9, being able to assist in keeping our campuses drug free would be an additional asset to our community. Our goal is to also have the K-9 trained in tracking in the event a student runs away or is lost given the rural nature of our school district.
Outside of the school day, my vision is that our K-9 will be visible at some extra curricular schools functions and sporting events, community events, festivals and other situations where having our K-9 socializing with the community is appropriate.
The K-9 would also have the ability to visit neighboring school districts if asked, especially in times of grief. For instance, during the 2019-20 school year, our school district was devastated by two student tragedies weeks apart from one-another. During that time an outside therapy dog was brought in to assist our students who sought the comfort of this animal. Having our very own K-9 to assist our students or neighboring districts in situations like these adds to the immeasurable impacts this animal would have on our community.
Our goal in bringing this four-legged friend to our community has some funding hurdles to overcome, including providing a K-9 equipped vehicle to keep our new friend safe. In a time where budgets are tight and businesses are feeling the economic pinch, we have to be as creative as possible in our attempts to bring this wonderful asset to fruition.
To fully complete our mission of funding this animal and a means of adequate and practical transportation, a goal of $65,000 was set. As of mid-May we have raised over $45,000 of this goal through grants as well as community and business donations.
Now I am asking for the help of our community and anyone across the world interested in helping. My hope is that you will see the present and future impact this animal will have for our children and greater Whitko Community and be able to assist in our mission. These children are the future!
If you have any questions my email is [email redacted]
(If you are a business we have a 501(c)(3) account set up as well you can inquire about)
Thank you!
Organizer
Timothy Clark
Organizer
South Whitley, IN
