For the past few weeks, Roger Vercel College in Dinan has had an additional educational assistant. Her name is Suzy, she is 18 months old, and she is a dog! And if it may seem crazy, spending a few hours in her company allows you to measure what she brings to the students.
This morning, on her schedule, she doesn’t start until 10 am, so Suzy waits patiently. And then suddenly, Cheyenne sticks her head in the office of the principal of Roger Vercel College in Dinan. “Hello sir, we’re picking up Suzy.“
The young golden retriever looks up, then climbs out of her soft cushion. “My Suzy“, “Susie”, immediately, the students surround the dog and kiss her.
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Suzy arrived at college just after February vacation. Stéphanie Baptiste, AESH (accompanying students with disabilities) from the Ulis class of the college had seen a video on social networks.
A Norman school had adopted a dog to appease the students. She immediately thought of those she follows on a daily basis. She spoke about it to her colleague, to the principal… and Suzy returned to the establishment.
Suzy, Cheyenne, Alice and Maud Courcoul, coordinator of the Ulis class, cross the college to reach their room where the other students are waiting impatiently. The dog walks through the corridors and passes between the lockers where the satchels are stored, wagging her tail.
When he enters, there is an explosion of joy. “It’s amazing the effect it has, marvels Stéphanie Baptiste. The children arrive at college with a smile, the banana because they know it is there.” By her very presence, she changes the atmosphere of the class
Alice is the first to approach the animal, she curls up against it. “Before, I was too lazy to come to college, but now that she’s here, I’m not lazy anymore.” she confides.
When a math problem is a real problem or the words get stuck in the pencils, it’s kind of like Suzy feels it.”She moves around the class and comes to reassure us” begins Cheyenne. “She calms us down, after that we don’t have any more stressconfirms Alison.
Stéphanie Baptiste and Maud Courcoul see him every day. “When the students have a little blues, they sit next to her on her carpet, they caress her, cuddle her, and they come back to sit more serene“. Because the pupils of the Ulis classes also often experience difficulties other than those of the multiplication tables. And there again, Suzy is there.
The Ulis class has eleven students. Some suffer from developmental disorders, learning difficulties, dyslexia. But of all these evils, Suzy has nothing to do. She even doesn’t care at all. She looks at her little masters with her big moist eyes, without ever judging.
“When I’m sad or it’s not right, I pat her head like this, explains Alice, suiting the action to the word. And with her cute little face, and her soft hair, I feel better.”
A “Suzification” of the exercises
When the little moment of madness that greets each arrival of the dog is over, you have to get back to work. “You take the Suzy booklets“, proposes Maud.
“The female dog is a motivation booster, smiled the teacher. With it, you can do a lot of exercises. In math, we count the kibbles she will need, in science, we talk about her anatomy, in French, we can invent what she dreams of or what she would like to do when she grows up. It’s very motivating for the students to work on her.”
At noon, while the students go to the cafeteria, Suzy is entitled to a short break in the principal’s office and then to a long walk with Maud or Stéphanie who take turns to take her for a walk and take care of her. S
uzy is in shared custody, three weeks with one then with the other. “And we share it during the holidaysthey point out. It’s a whole organization.” But they don’t regret anything.
In a few weeks, the animal made the teenagers feel better. In the early afternoon, they will introduce Suzy to another class. A few students were drawn, they wrote a short text: “Suzy arrived on February 27, she is 18 months old, she is calm, a little crazy“. In turn, in front of the board, they speak.
“Before, the students of Ulis, we did not always look at them wellnotes Nicolas Hérissé, the principal of the establishment. Since Suzy has been there, we have seen them differently: she is the dog of the whole college, but they are the ones who take care of her, they are envied, admired, it is important to help them regain confidence.
Suzy wags her tail in agreement, then raises a sly look. Wherever she goes, she sows smiles and good humor, in exchange, she receives hugs. A real dog’s life!
