If all goes according to plan, Frankie, a therapy dog, will be at Blue Earth Area schools next year.

The Blue Earth Area School Board heard several interesting presentations during their meeting last Monday night, May 9. One was about a potential new four-legged “staff member.”

BEA art teacher Sara Albright brought forth a proposal to have an officially trained and certified therapy dog attend BEA Schools next year.

And, she has a specific therapy dog in mind ­- her own dog Frankie.

“Frankie and I have been training at the Key City Kennel Club for her to be a registered Therapy Dog and for me to be a trained handler,” Albright told the board members. “We are having our last class, then she will have to pass tests from the American Kennel Club and also the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.”

There are a lot of credentials to obtain, and Frankie should be totally credentialed by later this summer.

Albright got Frankie, who is a miniature Golden Doodle, on June 21, 2020. She says she had seen a man with a therapy dog and became interested in the program.

Albright connected with a teacher at Forest Lake High School in the Twin Cities area who had a therapy dog in her class, which had been featured on WCCO-TV. Albright showed the TV news feature to the School Board.

Albright explained that a therapy dog can make a big difference in helping students who are struggling with depression, anxiety or ability to learn.

“There are a lot of benefits to having a dog in a classroom,” Albright explained. “I plan to have her in the school two to three times a week.”

Board members indicated they felt having a therapy dog in the school next year could be a very beneficial experience for the students.

BEA superintendent Mandy Fletcher explained that an informational and permission form would be sent to parents before school. They could indicate if they did not want to have their child near the dog, for reasons such as allergies or fear of dogs.

Albright said therapy dogs are getting to be very popular not just in schools, but in hospitals, nursing homes and childcare centers.

She is so passionate about having a therapy dog at BEA that she is covering a lot of the costs herself, including the dog, training and cost of a kennel in the school.

“I am more than happy to do this,” Albright said. “To help make our kiddos more successful in school and in life.”

The board considered another innovative idea during their meeting on Monday.

Superintendent Fletcher explained the idea which had to do with 40 acres of farmland south of the BEA football field, which is owned by the BEA School District.

Currently the farm land is rented out to an area farmer.

“Nate Carr of the Soil and Water Conservation District suggested we could work with them and use the land for projects by our ag department and the FFA,” Fletcher said. “There is a similar situation at USC.”

She said the students would help to manage the land, and it would be used as a learning experience for students interested in knowing about agriculture and farming.

“Sometimes seed dealers will donate the seeds, ag lenders will work with the students and farmers can donate use of their equipment,” Fletcher said.

The district would continue to rent out the land for this crop season, and take over management of it around Jan. 1, 2023, she added.

School board members expressed support of the plan, calling it a great idea and very exciting – and giving kudos to Nate Carr for volunteering to help coordinate it.