LOOK – Evergreen High School’s therapy dogs crowned homecoming king and queen

Homecoming at Evergreen High School has officially gone to the dogs. The school’s two therapy dogs, Polenta and Norene, were crowned its first canine homecoming king and queen Friday night at the homecoming football game. Students set up a special “puppy homecoming court” just for them. The pair ran unopposed and won in a landslide.

The two dogs have earned it. Norene joined the school in January and Polenta came in August. Both are Canine Companions facility dogs, brought in to help students and staff heal after the shooting that shook the Evergreen community last year. Principal Skyler Artes and lead counselor Amy Wells both trained to become handlers after seeing how much comfort dogs brought students in the weeks after the shooting.

The dogs have the best attendance in the building. They arrive early, stay until the last bell and spend their days greeting students at the front entrance, walking the hallways and hanging out in the counseling office. Wells summed up their job description: “Their duty is to lie there and just be pet and hang out.” She said many students she’d never talked to before now come up to her all the time, thanks to the dogs.

Students say the dogs make a big difference. “Just felt very vulnerable, you know. And being able to just see these dogs just made people want to pet them,” said senior Jackson Thomas. “I light up whenever I see them because they’re just so cute.” Under the Friday night lights, Evergreen celebrated two of its most popular members, and it’s hard to think of a more deserving king and queen.

 

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