Folks laughed when a Hanby Elementary first grade teacher said she wanted to bring foster puppies into her Wilmington classroom.
The real punchline came when one of her TikTok videos recently went viral with footage of students reading children’s books to snoozing pups in her classroom.
The video has over 2.2 million views.
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TikTok brands Hanby teacher a ‘hero’
Brooke Hughes of Philadelphia is the teacher behind Foster Tales Puppy Therapy program.
The teacher was blindsided by the attention when she posted the video in June. Her prior Foster Tales videos were all under 30,000 views. “I was pretty surprised that the video blew up, just because the other ones really didn’t,” Hughes told The News Journal/Delaware Online.
People were losing their TikTok minds in the comments section.
“This person isn’t a teacher, this is a super hero,” praised one person.
“There’s something about a 1st grader holding a snoozing pupster like a baby that says I’m ready to adopt!,” a smitten TikTok user wrote.
“I wish all schools could do this!!!!! I’ve seen kids take the dogs out and run with them and get gym credit!,” a hype commenter said.
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What is Foster Tales Puppy Therapy?
In January, Hanby Elementary became the pilot school for Hughes’ Foster Tales Puppy Therapy, an initiative where foster puppies are brought to school to help improve the mental health of students and staff.
School counselor Christine Cebrat held various therapy sessions in her own classroom where puppies were present. Pups were used to help calm students dealing with anxiety and other struggles, Hughes said.
Foster Tales also is intended to enhance the reading skills of students. Kids practice on cute dogs in a pressure-free scenario.
The program is helpful to foster puppies, too, since it provides them with a safe, social environment that teaches them new things, while they’re waiting for adoption.
The program’s expenses — such as a portable pet crate, potty pads and toys — were raised through donations from donorschoose.com, a popular crowd-funded website that teachers use to get money for supplies.
Hughes raised $1,704.
How does Foster Tales Puppy Therapy work?
The first-grade teacher’s classroom is spacious and features a huge puppy playpen made of wire that comfortably fits multiple children and puppies.
The playpen is where students hang out with and read to the pups. Two students were allowed in the playpen at a time, Hughes said. Classwork had to be completed first and students were asked not to disturb sleeping puppies.
The foster puppies came from Rags 2 Riches Animal Rescue in Garnett Valley, Pennsylvania.
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Did foster puppies camp overnight at Hanby?
Hughes, who is also a gymnastics coach, brought up to three foster puppies into her class on a given day. At the end of the school day, the puppies would have a slumber party at her residence, or go home with other participating teachers as scheduled permitted.
Pet therapy boosted ‘every single student’s reading scores’
Since introducing Foster Tales in her class, Hughes noticed “every single student’s reading scores increased.”
She added, “There’s so much research that reading to animals can increase your reading fluency and your comprehension because, you know, they’re not judging you.”
Even her most reluctant readers were “so excited to read to a curled up, sleeping puppy.”
‘It took a little bit of convincing’
Hughes began her journey fostering puppies in 2020.
The idea to bring the program to Hanby was sparked after students returned to the classroom from virtual learning during the pandemic.
She thought bringing puppies to school would “help with the emotional mental health crisis that we were going through at the time.”
Hughes said, “it took a little bit of convincing to pilot the program,” but she managed to get the greenlight from Hanby Principal Juliet Agresti.
Parents were supportive, too. “I never got permission slips signed and returned so quickly, she said.”
Since she works with Rags 2 Riches Animal Rescue, she had a strong sense of which puppies would be compatible with her students and already had experience fostering 20 pups.
18 puppies found fur-ever homes
The Foster Tales program has led to 18 puppy adoptions, Hughes said.
One of the puppies was adopted by a student’s family. The fur baby’s name is Pete, inspired by Philly restaurant and bar “Chickie’s & Pete’s.”
Hughes said her students were very gentle with the puppies. Some knew how to handle puppies because they have their own pets.
The experience instilled in her students a sense of responsibility, patience and the empathy to understand what it takes to “rescue an abandoned animal and get it adopted and then give it a loving home.”
In fact, some students said they’re no longer interested in having a pet puppy, because they require too much work.
What’s next for Foster Tales?
Hughes wants to expand her puppy therapy program and bring it into more classrooms. She also has bigger plans.
“My ultimate goal would be to develop a curriculum for other schools or districts to follow, because a lot of people are asking me questions about how I got started,” she explained.
This summer Hughes is working on a comprehensive way of showing teachers in Brandywine School District and beyond how she managed her pilot program, in hopes that other schools will bring puppies into their classrooms.
“Holding one of these loving puppies has eased the anxiety of many Hanby children this year,” said Principal Agresti.
Foster Tales Puppy Therapy supplies
To support a wish list of future items for the Foster Tales Puppy Therapy program, visit amazon.com. For more info about Foster Tales, visit Brooke Hughes on TikTok: @fostertalespt
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.
