CHOCOWINITY MIDDLE SCHOOL | CONTRIBUTED
LEARNING ABOUT SERVICE ANIMALS: As a part of her sixth-grade language arts classes, Mandi Stone, a teacher at Chocowinity Middle School, has her students work each week with a non-fiction article. Recently, the topic was service dogs. To expose her students to something they may not have any experience with and connect it to their nonfiction study, Stone asked fellow teacher Robin Potter if her son Anderson and his service dog Gilead could speak to the sixth grade as a part of their Tribe Pride time. The students enjoyed hearing from a high school student and watching Gilead work for Anderson. The classes reflected on the experience the day after, and they enjoyed it very much. They now know more about what a service dog does from not only reading about it, but also by witnessing it. Not only could they make text connections between the article and the real thing, but they also made connections with their teacher, Robin Potter, as this deeply affects her family as well. Pictured, Anderson Potter speaks to sixth-grade students at Chocowinity Middle School about his experiences with Gilead, his service dog.