Thursdays at Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter
Joan Benson 1/18

     In the beginning of January, my mom came across a Facebook page for Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford. They were starting a program for people of all ages to come and read to their animals. I wrote an email to the director of the program so I could get my name on the list. You can request what kind of animal you would like to read to. You can read to a dog, cat, or a critter (hamster, bunny, etc.). The program runs every other Thursday until May. It only takes thirty minutes of your day and the wonderful feeling you and the animal get afterwards is worth every second.
     Before going to the shelter, I did some research on the benefits this would have on the animals, because it sounded a bit odd to me. Besides the fact that it may improve their listening skills, I found out that it’s important for the animals to have some kind of human interaction that can calm them down. Sometimes it isn’t about playing with them, it’s about giving them all of your attention while they give you all of theirs. I also found out that it actually benefits the people reading more than I thought. Reading to animals can improve your public speaking skills since you’re reading around others. Kids who are learning to read feel more comfortable reading to animals, especially dogs, because they don’t judge and give you all of their attention. It can also help people as a type of therapy session, because they can focus on one thing for that time and don’t have to worry about anything else for those 30 minutes.
     When I went to the shelter for the first time, I had the most wonderful experience. It was right in the middle of midterm week so I couldn’t have been anymore stressed. When I came in they told us some simple rules like not to stick our fingers in the cage and they warned us that when we go in, the dogs may bark for a bit, but then they should calm down and be ready to listen to you read to them.The dog that I was paired up with was named Henry. He was some kind of Pomeranian mix and was very cute. I’m not sure what his background was, but it didn’t take him that long to warm up to me. There was one moment when I was reading when he let out a big sigh and laid down while staring up at me. I really did form a bond with him in that half hour and I never felt more relaxed than I did that evening. I encourage everyone to go and just try it. I’m sure you can find other shelters close to you that have a similar program. It’s a wonderful experience.
     To learn more visit their website at http://www.branford-ct.gov/animalshelter/


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COMMUNITY: Learning About ACEs 
​MarQuel Woods 12/17
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     ACEs is an acronym that stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) states that “Childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity.” The CDC states that “As such, early experiences are an important public health issue.”
     I was fascinated to learn about this phenomenon from my Creative Writing teacher, Ms. Englart, because I had never even heard of ACEs. I wanted to learn more about this because of how common ACES are and the impact ACEs can have on your mental and physical health. So I looked on Google to see if there was an online quiz to find out my ACEs score. I found a quiz on www.npr.org and learned a lot. The article states that, “An ACE score is a tally of different types of abuse, neglect, and other hallmarks of a rough childhood. According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, the rougher your childhood, the higher your score is likely to be and the higher your risk for later health problems.”
     There were a total of 10 questions. An example of the type of question you would be asked if you were to take this quiz is “Before your 18th birthday, did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often…swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? Or act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?” I answered yes, which means that I received 1 point for that question.
     I found the quiz to be very insightful and an important quiz to take if you care about your mental and/or physical health. I strongly recommend that you look more into this topic and take the quiz by reading the article below. This is such an important topic that more people should know about.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take- the-ace- quiz-and- learn-what-it- does-and- doesnt-mean
     Here is a link to the CDC website if you want to learn more about ACEs: https://vetoviolence.cdc.gov/apps/phl/resource_center_infographic.html