When Calais School students return to the school building on September 14, each will have a better idea what to expect after watching a special video.

During counseling sessions on September 9, counselors shared the new video created by Calais administrators and staff to make students’ reentry to the school building that much easier.

Calais Speech Language Pathologist Holly Bracken said she thought creating a video for students would make things easier, so she enlisted the help of Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) program handler Susan Greenbaum and her dog Gideon. “As we (the re-entry team) were working through the plan for the re-start, I thought it would be important to provide a visual tour of the changes to the school building and a demonstration of the daily routine,” Ms. Bracken said. “The video idea stemmed from a conversation I had with Susan Greenbaum and it took off from there. We wanted to provide an example of the new learning environment prior to coming back the first day to ease the transition and help all students feel confident about returning to the school setting.”

Principal John Cohrs said he was so impressed with the video that he insisted it be shown to both students and their parents. “The video will let them know what our expectations are for bringing children safely back into the building,” Mr. Cohrs said. “Congratulations to Ms. Bracken, Ms. Greenbaum, Mrs. Braen, and everyone who participated in and produced this incredible video.”

After students were shown the video in counseling sessions, Principal Cohrs said the counselors were then “given an opportunity to engage students in meaningful dialogue and field any questions that come up.”

Teachers were also asked to attend the sessions so that they can help answer any student questions that come up. Gideon also did a good job acting in the video and impressed Mr. Cohrs and all staff with his performance. The dog arrived at school, got off a school bus, had his temperature taken, went to his classroom, enjoyed classes while sitting at a desk and even met with the school nurse.

The following people are credited for making this helpful video:

Cast and crew: John Cohrs and Diane Manno, Paul Vitaletti, Maryann Braen, Karen Liberato, Vincent Femia, Gerardo Aquino, Samantha Helfer, Christina Pederson, Jason Crespo and the maintenance team, Susan Greenbaum and Gideon.

To watch the video, click here.