Weighing in at 6 lbs. 2 oz., Forrest, The Seeing Eye® Inc. puppy-in-training, attended the Tuesday, October 15, 2024, Montville Township Board of Education meeting.
So as not to confuse young spellers at Cedar Hill Elementary School, Forrest’s name will be spelled “Forest” for the next 14 to 16 months. That is how long the puppy will work with the staff and students at Cedar Hill, as he trains to become a Seeing Eye® guide dog.
“Cedar Hill Elementary School has a very strong relationship with The Seeing Eye®,” said Cedar Hill principal Dr. Michael Raj. Raj introduced “Forest,” the newest puppy-in-training, to the members of the BOE.
Raj and Cedar Hill School Nurse Bonnie DiCola made a special presentation to the BOE regarding the district’s robust The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Program.
“These dogs are part of our curriculum,” explained DiCola. “This is a hands-on community service project. The children learn positive reinforcement, which is what the puppies are raised with. The children and the puppies also learn ‘time and place.’ When the dogs are wearing their scarf or their vest, they are working and cannot play. The school is a great environment to train the puppies because there are so many distractions, but, through the Seeing Eye® training curriculum, the puppies learn to ignore distractions. Developing these skills helps to the puppy to become a successful Seeing Eye® Dog.
“Forest” is DiCola’s twenty-third puppy. The nurse’s relationship with The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Program dates from 1997, when her own children had asked to be Puppy Trainers. In the intervening years, DiCola has trained 22 Seeing Eye® puppies and 1 Guiding Eye puppy. In total, DiCola has trained 23 service dogs.
Several years before Raj became the Cedar Hill Principal, he and DiCola met at The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Classes in Morristown. Each was a Puppy Trainer on their own.
During that class time, DiCola noted that it would be great if the two public school educators worked at the same school and could bring The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Program to the school’s elementary students.
A few years later Raj became the Cedar Hill Principal and together they introduced The Seeing Eye® Inc. Puppy Training Program into the curriculum.
“This is a community service for the whole school and town,” noted DiCola. “The students love watching the puppies grow. They are aware when each dog graduates from the training program. The students also love learning about the types of places the dogs end up living, and the interests and needs of the people Seeing Eye® dogs are paired with.”
DiCola noted that, while it is sad when each dog goes back to The Seeing Eye® to complete the training, “the students have learned that we trained the dogs because others need the dogs more than we do.”
“With this service project we wanted to teach the kids that not every act of kindness requires a monetary, or a gift of goods,” Raj explained. “Our community, as you know, is a very generous community. Anytime there is a situation, the checkbooks get opened-up and monetary donations start flowing in, or clothing donations, or food, things of that sort.”
“But, something like this,” Raj emphasized, “is a gift of love.”
So successful is the Cedar Hill Elementary School The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Program that it has expanded across the community. According to DiCola, throughout the Montville Township community there are currently four The Seeing Eye® puppies in training.
Within the district, the Administrative Assistant for Preschool / Elementary for the Montville Township Public Schools [MTPS] Special Services Department, Lauri Schmitt, is currently raising, Randy, her eighth The Seeing Eye® puppy in the district.
Before coming to the MTPS Special Services Department, Schmitt was the Secretary to Dr. Raj at Cedar Hill. It was there that she also began raising The Seeing Eye® puppies in the elementary school setting.
Since moving to Special Services at the district’s Central Offices, Schmitt’s Seeing Eye® puppies also spend time interacting with students and staff at Montville Township High School, Robert R. Lazar Middle School, and the other elementary schools across the Pre-K to Grade 12 district.
Klondike, Schmitt’s first The Seeing Eye® puppy, completed Certified Therapy Dog training in addition to The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training. Klondike also visits the MTPS district as part of the district’s goals to promote and expand mental health programs for students and educators.
All The Seeing Eye® Puppy Trainers are volunteers.
“Forest” who is the runt of a litter of eleven puppies, was recently assigned to Cedar Hill at just under 8 weeks of age.
As part of the curriculum, students wrote letters of welcome, and raised funds for The Seeing Eye® Puppy Training Program by paying one dollar to guess the puppy’s name. All The Seeing Eye® puppies are named at birth by The Seeing Eye® organization. All puppies in a litter have the same first initial. A total of $245 was raised by Cedar Hill in anticipation of “Forest’s” arrival. Three students and two adults guessed the name “Forest.” As their prize, those who guessed correctly will have an opportunity to spend some extra time with “Forest.”
As “Forest” grows he will begin to go into the classrooms and interact with the children.
“’Forest’ will be a part of the reading program, or sit in the kids laps as a little therapy session,” Raj added. “Therapy dogs have been very successful through the counseling program.”
Board Member Dr. Karen Cortellino added one note before “Forest,” Raj and DiCola concluded their presentation.
“One of my children had the good fortune of being a student at Cedar Hill, during one of the dog’s tenure there, and has lifelong memories,” Cortellino said. “It is a precious experience.”
Montville Township Public Schools is a Pre-K to Grade 12 district in Morris County, New Jersey. The district is home to 3,500 students. There are five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school in the MTPS district. Cedar Hill Elementary School is a community of 328 students located in the Towaco section of Montville Township.