Students pet a Service Dog from Pet Partners Central Ohio (Courtesy/Joey G.)

Pet Partners Central Ohio provided three service dogs for the high school on Wednesday, March 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. during our Common Hour. Alongside their handlers, were a beagle in the hallway next to Dr. Ritter’s office, a golden retriever in the Sophomore lounge, and a labradoodle in the Junior lounge.

Dr. Ritter arranged for the local Pet Partners to visit CA students. Dr. Ritter told me that “when you generate positive emotion, that can have payoff through the whole rest of the day . . . the reason dogs are helpful is that here’s all kinds of research behind how animals can help people’s mental health.” Ritter was happy “to see [students] stop and pet the dogs and have fun and get excited and just chill out for a while. It may only seem like a moment, but it can . . . make their day a little bit better.”