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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Critharis from New York, NY is requesting a classroom visitor through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Critharis is requesting

PET TheraPLAY- Dogs Counseling Kids in NYC

My students need The Fair Shake dog therapy program to help build empathy, self-esteem, and positive skills/behaviors that will help them excel both in school and life.

  • $1,827 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Critharis for her next project!

Help Ms. Critharis

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Critharis for her next project!

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

My middle school students come to school every day wanting to succeed academically and socially. However, their anger, frustration, and lack of self-confidence often interfere with their learning and with their social-emotional growth.

Middle school is an unstable time for many students, as they have to adjust to the rigorous demands of school as well as to the rapid emotional and physical changes that correspond with puberty.

They need to feel love, stability, kindness, patience, and trust before they can be successful in school and in life. The ages of students I counsel range from eleven to fourteen years old. The majority of students are Latino and African-American from the Lower East Side in New York City. Many students are living in poverty in nearby housing projects. They have internalized negative patterns of thinking and believe that teachers and life are unfair. They beg to come to counseling. Examples of issues they talk about are: anxiety, depression, anger, frustration due to learning disabilities, trauma, stress, death and loss, abuse and neglect, bullying, lack of self-control, low self-esteem, drug and alcohol abuse, ACS/foster care/homeless shelters, and family conflict.

My Project

Despite hardships faced by my students, they are smart, funny, and talented. The students who feel a lack of control over events in their lives often become bullies, and those students who have low self-esteem often become victims of bullying. A Fair Shake for Youth is a non-profit organization that offers programs in which 3 to 4 dog therapy teams (owner and dog) work with a group of 12 students once a week for 10 weeks. The program combines hands-on work with the dogs and a curriculum of dog-related topics: animal shelters, second chances, and breed discrimination. Each week, students practice giving the dogs basic commands and teach tricks. Can your dog crawl? The students lure the dogs through an agility tunnel and over obstacles using treats and praise. In the process, they learn about positive reinforcement, communication, and trust. As these students become successful, they realize they have a voice that helps to set them up for success both inside and outside the classroom.

My students need to experience the motivational power of dog therapy.

The Fair Shake for Youth dog therapy program will provide the stability, love, and empathy that my students desperately need. Dogs are non-judgmental, interesting, furry, and fun to be around and I believe that dogs have the capacity to help students address and transcend the issues and obstacles, both academic and social, that they encounter at school and at home.

Ms. Critharis PS 140 Nathan Straus Grades 6-8

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Critharis

New York, NY View local requests

More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

12 students impacted 31donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Critharis is requesting.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Visitor Total
A Fair Shake for Youth (A Fair Shake for Youth is a non-profit organization that offers programs in which 3 to 4 dog therapy teams (owner and dog) work with a group of 12 students once a week for 10 weeks. The program combines hands-on work with the dogs and a curriculum of dog-related topics that often resonate with students' own life experiences: animal shelters, second chances, and breed discrimination.) $1,500.00

Visitor cost

$1,500.00

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$22.50

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$1,552.50

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$273.97

Total project goal

$1,826.47

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,826.47

25 Donors

-$1,726.18

Donations toward project cost

-$1,510.00

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$216.18

match offer

-$50.00

Match offer toward project cost

-$42.50

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$7.50

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$50.29

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Critharis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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