5 BRONX WEEKLY June 14, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
The dog Slick with a student Courtesy of Daniel Krieger.
BY JASON COHEN
As children are home dealing
with the stress of COVID-19, one
nonprofi t is using dogs to calm
their nerves.
Founded on the prison dog
model, A Fair Shake for Youth has
reached over 3,000 middle school
youth through partnerships with
over 60 schools and community organizations
since its founding in
2010.
It helps middle school students
build social and emotional skills
through a structured hands-on
therapy dog program. Following
a 10-week curriculum, kids learn
dog-handling skills and discuss
dog-related topics that often resonate
with their own life experience
including animal shelters, second
chances and breed discrimination.
As kids work with the dogs they
learn about themselves and each
other.
During COVID-19, A Fair
Shake has pivoted from in-school
programming to now completing
seven weeks of online learning
and engaging live sessions with
therapy dogs. It works with many
schools in the south Bronx including
Bronx Latin at 800 Home St.
The programs include activities
and virtual sessions with registered
therapy dogs, their volunteer
handlers and experienced instructors.
“The experience has been so
joyful for both the kids and the
school staff,” said Taina Benjamin,
English as a Second Language
(ESL) teacher at the Bronx Latin
School. “A lot of the kids have been
anxious, but the dogs have really
helped calm them and give them
something to look forward to. To
answer questions about dogs and
interact with an animal gives them
a different and fun way to interact
with content so the kids don’t mind
responding and participating. The
dogs help us create momentum
with the kids.”
As schools closed, the organization
created a custom “school portal”
in which teachers and social
workers access lessons that relate
to the dog and volunteer teams.
Each of the fi rst six lessons cover
a social-emotional learning topic.
The lessons are designed to be
short, fun and fl exible depending
on need, technical capabilities and
individual student needs.
Lessons include both a one-page
teacher’s guide and a one-page student
guide. All visitors to the website
can visit the “Meet the Dogs”
page to learn more about each dog
in a social-emotional context.
Following the pivot to distance
learning, A Fair Shake for
Youth has engaged with nearly
100 students in the city’s hardest
hit communities. As the academic
year comes to a close, the organization
is working with schools to provide
enrichment programming to
keep students engaged as caregivers
and parents see summer camps
and programs canceled.
It has worked with: Bronx
School of Young Leaders, Dr. Richard
Izquierdo Health and Science
Charter School, East Fordham
Academy for the Arts, Mott Haven
Academy Charter School, P.S.
306, South Bronx Early College
Academy, WHEDco, New Directions
Secondary School and Bronx
School for New Media.
Audrey Hendler, founder and
executive director of A Fair Shake
for Youth, feels the transition to
remote programming has gone
smoothly. Being able to provide
even a brief respite of relief for
the kids during these challenging
times is important, she said.
“We recognize that the need
for our work is not only vital now
as our kids continue to experience
loss and ongoing trauma, but will
be a necessity as we see the secondary
effects of the unprecedented
stress and trauma they are experiencing
set in,” Hendler said.
Commuters fl ock
back to mass transit
Photo by Mark Hallum
BY MARK HALLUM
Mass transit ridership
seems to be healing after
months of fear from
COVID-19.
It only took the fi rst day
of Phase I of reopening for
800,000 more riders came back
to the subways, an 17% increase
from the week prior.
The seeming likelihood
that commuters are making a
B-line back to public transportation
could dispel fears that
people may avoid the trains
and buses for a prolonged period
of time. Interim New York
City Transit President Sarah
Feinberg said she was optimistic
from her outings on the
subway that riders were returning
with “confi dence.”
“There was a real spring
in people’s step, there was a
bustle about the system. It was
obviously a beautiful day, it
was a good day to be out. But I
think I was in six stations and
seven trains and I feel like people
were optimistic and glad to
be back,” Feinberg said.
Ridership during peak
hours is up by 18% to 22%,
Feinberg said, and bus ridership
is up 13%. Manhattan
subway ridership was up 20%
alone.
But while the MTA now
has hand sanitizer dispensers
in stations and other precautions,
Feinberg was cautious
to say things were back to normal
entirely.
Overnight closures between
1 and 5 a.m. will continue
for the time being with
Feinberg taking a page from
Governor Andrew Cuomo in
telling reporters that the epidemic
does not have a set end
date.
“We get better, more effective
and more effi cient at cleaning
all the time, so our plan is
to return to 24-hour service at
some point. We are defi nitely
going to wait until the end of
the pandemic,” Feinberg said.
Buses will continue to do
rear-door boarding with no
fare, as well as social distancing
to protect drivers, but she
said the agency would prioritize
reinstating the fare and
front-door boarding.
“There’s no question, we
have to do that,” Feinberg
said.
Last week, the MTA reversed
course on a measure
taken in March – the Essential
Service Plan – to reduce service
by 30% due to staff being
out sick from COVID-19. Full
service on all but 5 line was
fully restored.
This story fi rst appeared on
amny.com.
Therapy dogs reaching kids in
hardest hit NYC communities
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD - YOUR NEWS
The Bronx Times On-Line
Your world is 24/7... NOW so are we.
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/amny.com