When Eve walks through the halls of Schafer Elementary School, she is treated like a rock star, and for her part, she is nonchalant and unassuming about her apparent “fame.”
That’s because the four-legged visitor is calm, cool and collected and takes her job in stride—as a trained comfort dog that makes weekly trips to visit children at the District 45 school.
Eve is part of the ministry at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lombard, spreading comfort—as the name implies—to others in a variety of situations and settings.
She has become a fixture at the Lombard school thanks, in part, to handler Marilyn Fawell, a retired special education teacher, who has been volunteering at the school’s kindergarten through St. John’s Marla’s Project Tutor program (see accompanying story), most currently as the coordinator.
Fawell recounted how she first asked the “top dog”—as she quipped—of St. John’s Comfort Dog Ministry, Larry Lay, about bringing Eve to the school to spend time with some of the children, before even approaching the school’s principal with the idea.
“He said yes and agreed it was a good idea,” Fawell related. “I approached Principal [Edith] Rivera and explained what the comfort dog program was about and asked if she would be agreeable to allow Eve to work with both regular and special education students on a weekly basis.”
“We are always looking for innovative ways to motivate and encourage students,” Rivera stated. “As we know, dogs, by virtue of their nature, have only unconditional love to offer and they make great listeners!”
”When Marilyn told me about Eve, I knew we would benefit greatly from having her with us on a weekly basis,” she added.
Fawell recalled that Rivera wanted to meet Eve and “after further discussion along with the meeting she worked out a schedule involving three to four classes on a trial basis.”
“Eve subsequently won the hearts of everyone who works with her—children, faculty and staff alike,” she related.
“Currently we have Eve working with our kindergarteners, to help build confidence with their reading [and] the students in the STARS [special needs] program to help increase their communication skills and also as a positive reinforcement for students struggling with behavior,” Rivera outlined.
“We sign up for the year and the teachers write us into their lesson plan,” Fawell explained, adding that in addition to helping students with their reading, Eve can even help them with math.
That is, she allows children to brush her fur, with Fawell and other handlers like Sue Leary using that experience to help the children learn counting by the number of brush strokes.
“All the teachers are very supportive and cooperative as we try to meet any specific needs they may have; by planning I meant they put in the ‘block of Eve time’ every week as part of their schedule,” Fawell highlighted.
On one particular Tuesday, kindergarten children sat down next to Eve, and took turns reading from their chosen book, as the dog relaxed and listened.
“The children, according to their teachers, look forward to coming to visit Eve each week as if she is a ‘reward’ for them,” Fawell mentioned.
After getting a visit from the kindergarten students, small groups of students from the STARS program came to visit Eve as well. Some read to her, while others wanted to brush her or just sit nearby.
A few students, while hesitant to approach Eve, nevertheless expressed an interest in their four-legged visitor, whether it was observing her or inching toward her ever-so-slowly to get a closer look.
Fawell, Rivera and Leary all agree that Eve’s presence benefits the children, especially those who have special needs.
“Last year there were several students who shied back by the wall and now will read or sit near Eve or brush her, etc.,” Fawell noted.
Calling Eve a “calming influence,” Leary echoed that “Changes in children have been that some of the children were afraid of dogs. They would sit afar and just want to look at Eve. Now they have learned to trust Eve! They love to hug, read, pet and brush her!”
“Also, I believe they’ve learned to have compassion for animals,” she added.
Leary feels rewarded herself wherever she takes Eve to provide comfort, and at Schafer in particular, “Personally, it makes me happy to be able to serve the children, alongside Eve, and to see how Eve brings smiles to the children and staff. It’s a very rewarding experience.”
“Eve has not only helped students gain confidence with their reading skills, she has also been a great tool for students who are struggling socially and emotionally,” Rivera said.
“Eve provides a relaxing, positive environment where students feel safe and relaxed. Our kindergarteners anxiously await their time with Eve so they can show off their reading skills! If kids are having a bad day emotionally, Eve turns it around,” the principal emphasized.
Eve appeals not only to the students—just walking down the hall, staff members can’t help but stop and pet her.
In fact, the handlers can’t walk into the building or through the hallways without someone stopping to talk to Eve or pet her, and when leaving, “It takes us a half hour to get out of the building,” Fawell said with a chuckle.
The bottom line for Fawell, though, is, “As a retired special education teacher I believe strongly that Eve is a positive addition to the educational experience for both special and regular education—I believe these children view the dog from a different perspective than just a pet.”
“Eve communicates non-judgmental feelings and seems to be able to ‘touch’ them,” she concluded.
Eve came to St. John’s in December 2015, after the church had put down a deposit for a comfort dog over a year earlier. She is considered “a gift to the community.”
Eve is part of Lutheran Church Charities’ (LCC) K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry which, according to LCC staff member Rich Martin, was started in 2008 by LCC President Tim Hetzner.
Today, Martin said, there are over 130 golden retriever comfort dogs in 22 states, and they offer comfort in their own communities, from visiting schools and churches to shopping malls, airports and even to dentists’ offices to comfort individuals who are afraid of the dentist.
The comfort dogs and handlers also travel around the country in the aftermath of such events as natural disasters, mass shootings and other tragedies.
