Meet Jake and Annie - Pressly School

Jake, a 5 year old Labrador Retriever, is Iredell-Statesville Schools' one and only Certified Therapy Dog. Jake works primarily at Pressly School, but travels to other schools and makes visits throughout the community. He is always accompanied by his "handler," Mr. Billy Manners. These two are inseparable, but that is part of their training. Jake joined the staff at Pressly during the 2018-2019 school year. Everyone LOVES Jake and many have asked about his story, what he does to help students, and even how they can help. Please continue reading this page to find out everything you would want to know about Jake and be sure to check out the video at the bottom of the page.

How Does Jake Help?

He helps get students in the school by greeting them as they arrive each day.
Students have built a relationship with Jake which has helped increase student attendance because they want to come to school to see him.
Students choose "time with Jake" as their earned reward for making good choices and good behavior.
He can dissolve an emotional or behavioral crisis in a matter of minutes.
Reading with Jake increases confidence and courage for struggling or hesitant readers.
Jake's presence has allowed us to see unprecedented changes in behavior and mood in our students.
Jake's visible scars and signs of abuse have enabled students to open up and share their own stories of abuse with him and adults.
Students build a trust relationship with Jake which then, in turn, leads to better trust relationships with the adults at school.
Jake's presence in a room, can in itself, change the atmosphere.
Jake visits with hospitalized students and staff.
His display of obedience sparks conversations and lessons with the students about their own obedience/disobedience.
Caring for Jake starts conversations with students about their own responsibility of self-care and hygiene.
Jake's presence has encouraged good problem-solving habits in students as they strive to make good choices.
Students look forward to Jake checking in on them and their class daily.
Jake is checking in on students and classes in other Iredell-Statesville Schools too.

Golden Retriever with children and adults

Jake's Story

The students at Pressly demonstrated a need for a non-traditional intervention to help them regulate their emotions and increase their motivation to learn. We kept finding research that supported the fact that therapy dogs ease anxiety, social and emotional challenges, and isolation for students. In 2017, after a lot of research, the team was convinced that therapy animals can be instrumental in assisting people who struggle with regulating their emotions as well as being effective in increasing reading motivation. After several community businesses, agencies and individuals partnered with us to support education for our students in a non-traditional manner, the School Board approved our request to find a therapy animal. The search began to find the perfect animal.

We were led to the Humane Society of Catawba County. After surveying more than 100 dogs to see which ones had the temperament and appeal to become a therapy dog, Andy Hannelin and his DogsByAndy crew, narrowed our search down to 3 dogs, and we enlisted the help of one of our students in making the final selection. He chose Jake! Jake had been rescued from a life of abuse and brought to the shelter. He was underweight and had clearly been mistreated and abused including having a bucket of hot tar dumped on him. Unfortunately, Jake's story has a strong correlation to the stories of many of our students. After several months of intense training, Jake was ready to join us at Pressly.

Golden Retriever and with children and adults

Many students identify with Jake's early experiences in life. He was abused, unloved, and locked up. His life changed when someone took an interest in him! Jake is a survivor! He, like many of our students, has overcome tremendous obstacles in his young life. To our students, Jake is a symbol of hope that we too sometimes need a rescuer and need caring people in our lives.

Jake's Corner

Jake's Goals

Jake loves meeting new people. He is looking forward to building relationships and partnerships in the community.

Jake always strives to intervene staff or students are in crisis and assist in a way that only a furry friend can!
He is looking forward to participating in several area 5K events to help build relationships in the community.
He has requests for school visits from schools within Iredell-Statesville as well as from schools outside the district.

Jake's Supporters

We'd like to acknowledge and thank the community for your support in helping to make getting Jake a reality for our students!

Dogs By Andy - assisted with expenses of training a therapy dog
Partners Behavioral Health Care - initial funding to start discussions about Jake
Food Lion FEEDS - donated gift card to go towards food for his first year
Dale Jr. Foundation - monetary donation to assist in the costs of owning and caring for a therapy dog
Dr. Chip Cooney and Animal Hospital of Statesville - official veterinarian for Jake giving him annual exams and shots free of charge
Ms. Ashley Cannon - monetary donation for additional expenses

How can I help?

Donate Now

Wish List / Goals - We would like to have a washing station at school so students could help bathe Jake. This also opens the door for discussions with students about their own personal hygiene.

Dog Food & Treats - Purina One Brand and/or Pet Botanics

Moving - Pressly will move into a new building next year! We hope to build a dog bathing station to help students the importance of self-hygiene. Any donations will help make this become a reality!