On Monday, June 2nd, Concord High School hosted a pet puppy for the 2024-25 end-of-school-year. There were two kittens and one dog in the gym. The high school has been hosting this for a few years now to help students feel less stressed about their end-of-year assignments or exams. The purpose of the animals was to relieve the stress from 9th-12th grades and make them feel less anxious.

Emma Burbo was the main organizer of the event; she shared how the animals can be very useful to many students throughout the high school. She shares, “The purpose of the pet a puppy event… was to give the students in our community an opportunity to spend time with animals as a stress relief during finals week, which can be very overwhelming and stressful for students. It has been proven that puppies are a serotonin boost for people, and my intention was to have the students get to experience something fun, the last week of school, to get their minds off

the stressors that they may have in their lives, whether it’s at school or at home. We plan on doing this same event again next year and maybe a few times throughout the year on the weeks we have finals or state testing because it went smoothly this first time and the students enjoyed it.” 

As the many different animals were running around the gym, laughs and smiles could be seen as students were throwing balls and giving them treats. Another student who had a little stress taken off their back was Bella Coppernoll, who shares, “ I have a lot of assignments I need to turn in. I was stressed pretty badly and am still, but when I went into the gym and was playing around with the dogs and the kittens, it made my mind feel a little bit clearer than the time before. After I was done, I went into the room and finished a few assignments, and now I feel a lot better. I look forward to seeing them again next year.” 

The pet-a-puppy event has helped many students throughout high school either get through their exams or finish their schoolwork. Thank you to everyone who helped organize the event and get the animals into the high school. We look forward to seeing the animals next year.