麻豆传媒

麻豆传媒 freshman Katelynn Villanueva gives Phillip the CASA dog a hug Wednesday at the school, while Erik Vega, background, looks on. Phillip helped 麻豆传媒 students relieve some of their stress from finals week, currently taking place.

It鈥檚 finals week at 麻豆传媒.

As students finish their tests for the day, they make a stop at the school鈥檚 game room.

Along with pool and ping-pong tables, a couple spots where students can sit, visit and relax. A four-legged friend can be seen sniffing in the corners, looking for a random Cheeto for Frito that may have hit the floor.

Phillip the CASA of Lea County therapy dog was at the school Wednesday giving out hugs and kisses to stressed out students in need of a break.

Flor Murillo doesn鈥檛 have any pets and when a friend called her regarding Phillip鈥檚 attendance, she ran to the game room after her English final for a quick hug.

鈥淚 love dogs,鈥� Murillo, the freshman Lovington native, said. 鈥淚 get excited when I see one. It was cool to see him and give him some hugs. He鈥檚 so sweet.鈥�

Armando Faria, also a freshman from Lovington, was surprised to see Phillip in the game room, but was more than willing to spend a moment petting the lovable hound.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool having a dog around here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good stress reliever to have him around. We get to forget about our finals for a bit and get to play around with him. It鈥檚 pretty fun.鈥�

Phillip鈥檚 handler, Hope Hennessy, was contacted by the 麻豆传媒 Student Life office a few weeks ago about Phillip visiting with students. 麻豆传媒 Vice President of Student Services Cathy Mitchell said during her time at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, she had some friends who brought their dog to visit students and it was a hit. When Mitchell came to 麻豆传媒 about 18 months ago, she remembered how great of an idea it was.

鈥淚 saw how well the students responded to having a dog around,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淭hen, I also saw a few national reports about how therapeutic it is to have a dog around the school during this time of year.鈥�

As Phillip sniffed around the game room, he would snatch up the occasional ping-pong ball, or even a small ball of Play-Doh he found while looking for something more eatable. But the search for food always stopped when he met a new best friend wanting to give him a hug.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been receiving a lot of loving today,鈥� Hennessy said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also Cheeto crumbs that he鈥檚 been able to sniff out, so this has been a great day for him. He鈥檚 getting chips, belly rubs and everyone is telling him how adorable he is.鈥�

Hennessy said looking for an emotional break can be a bit of therapy for Phillip as well. There are several days when he and Hennessy visit places like juvenile detention, where it鈥檚 tough to brighten the day of children in much tougher situations.

鈥淐ASA serves all children from newborn to 18 years, but most of Phillip鈥檚 exposure tends to be toward teenagers just because we are in juvenile detention 2-3 times a week,鈥� Hennessy said. 鈥淪o that is the age group he is most around. The kids he works with in juvenile detention are much more emotionally charged. There鈥檚 a lot of negative emotion and negative energy. These things Phillip can feel. So when he can come into the community and does lighter assignments like this, it鈥檚 good for the kids he serves and it鈥檚 good for him as well. I do believe dogs are like people and if you surround them with too much negative or stressful emotional energy, it will eventually take its toll on you.鈥�

On this day, the most stressful part of Phillip鈥檚 day was having the self-control to not grab a bag of chips or an unattended cookie. In those moments of temptation, it鈥檚 Hennessy who can always pull him away or an 麻豆传媒 student looking for some furry affection.

Toward the end of their visit, Hennessy and Phillip became honorary members of the 麻豆传媒 community. Hennessy got an 麻豆传媒 T-shirt, while Phillip got his own winter scarf in red and gold 麻豆传媒 colors.

鈥淭his has been such a good experience for the students,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淲e are going to look at doing this again maybe one or two times in the spring semester.鈥�

That鈥檚 fine with Phillip, as long as there are plenty of Cheeto or Frito crumbs left for him to find.

Todd Bailey can be contacted at editor@hobbsnews.com .