As the students of Hanceville Elementary made their way into the gymnasium for a Monday morning assembly, all they knew was that they would be welcoming someone new into their school. Some thought it might be a new student, others speculated that a new teacher would be joining the ranks. Judging by their reaction, none of the students had any notion that the newest faculty member to call themselves a Bulldog would be a 4-year-old Labrador retriever named Ghost.

Ghost is not the first service dog that the students have encountered. Brooksie — a 2-year-old labradoodle owned by Cullman County Judge Greg Nicholas — has made regular appearances at all of the elementary schools in the district, but he is the first to be fully devoted to the school system.

Despite the surprise that spread across the students’ faces as Ghost was welcomed to the assembly, his adoption has actually been a long time in the making. CCBOE Learning Supports Specialist Karen Pinion said that the system has had five applications in with Service Dogs of Alabama for several years.

One requirement for Ghost’s adoption was that the school had to provide a handler that met all of the agency’s criteria and would need to commit to participating in ongoing evaluation and training sessions each year. When given the opportunity, HES Counsellor Jessica Reeves said that she knew that the joy that it would bring to the students was something that she couldn’t say no to.

Reeves had already observed students interacting with a black-and-white stray dog that would frequent the afternoon pickup line affectionately referred to as Oreo. But as skittish as Oreo was, the students were unable to get close enough to directly interact with him and he was soon adopted by CCBOE Board member Kenny Brockman.

“When Oreo was adopted and left campus, I just imagined what it would do [for the students] if they had a dog that part of their faculty, that could be at the school everyday, that they could pet and interact with. Because just seeing Oreo and having him show up at the car-line made such a big difference,” Reeves said.

As every other CCBOE staff member has done this year, Ghost will also now participate in the Families Initiative. Six black rubbermaid bins formed a line down the center of the gymnasium and after being welcomed by the students, Ghost walked past them one by one until choosing one that, when the lid was removed, revealed a green balloon inside representing the Character family.

Reeves informed the students that while they may be excited and want to run up to greet Ghost when they see him walking the halls, that like the other faculty members Ghost is there to work.

“He may be doing that by letting somebody pet him who’s having a bad morning, or laying on somebody’s feet who is nervous about a test,” Reeves said. “Just remember, when you see him loving on another student, he’s working.”

She then taught them how to “wag their tails” when they want to say hello — forming a thumbs-up sign and waving their thumbs back and forth — so as not to distract him from his duties.

Reeves said that she is looking forward to this new journey with Ghost and is excited to see the impact that he makes on the students and faculty at the school.

“Dogs just bring out the best in everybody. For one they help you to regulate and just calm you down. and another big thing is it just helps the culture everyone on campus just becomes a little brighter knowing that he is going to be here everyday,” she said.