For National Teacher Appreciation Day on May 2, the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript reached out to administrators in districts across the Monadnock region, asking for nominations of standout teachers.
Peterborough Elementary School Principal Larry Pimental nominated longtime second-grade teacher Shannon Dunning.
“She really provides a supportive, structured environment that kids need,” said Pimental. “She shows real compassion and care for her students.”
According to Pimental, that can be said for all the teachers on his staff, but there are some ways in which Dunning stands out above the rest. Dunning is the leader of the second-grade team, and is on the school’s climate committee and principal advisory committee. This year, in particular, she has dedicated herself to an extra task – taking on thousands of hours of work to become a handler for the district’s first facility therapy dog, a black Labrador retriever named Charlie.
She also oversees the school’s student-teacher program, arranging placements from Keene State College and acting as a mentor, as well as hosting student-teachers in her own classroom.
Dunning, a graduate of Keene State College, said she loved her own student-teaching experience, and wanted to be part of that for the next generation.
“I love the excitement these 20-year-olds bring to a classroom,” Dunning said. “I was excited to inspire them and prepare them for what the job is, and help make each kid as successful as possible. They’re also students, so I take the same approach I would take with the second-graders. I ask, ‘How do I utilize their strengths to work on their weaknesses?’”
Dunning grew up in a family of educators. Her mother was a music teacher and her father, Dick Dunning, was a middle school teacher and principal at South Meadow School, and continues to serve the district on the school board.
“I loved seeing the impact that my family had on their students, and the reaction they would have when they would see my dad in public,” Dunning said. “I wanted to do something where I had an opportunity to give back, and teaching seemed to fit.”
Dunning has spent virtually all of her 24-year career in the second-grade classroom at Peterborough Elementary School, saying she loves that the children are still excited about learning, and that they feed off her energy. The more excitement she has, the more excited the children are. But Dunning said she is also always looking for ways to challenge herself, and that’s why she approached Pimental about starting a program for a facility therapy dog.
Dunning had included a section on therapy dogs in her reading curriculum, complete with a dog visiting the classroom for years, and she said she’d seen the benefit it can have even in those short visits. Although she knew it would be a lot of work, she wanted to see what it would take to have a permanent facility dog for the building. And it has been a challenge, she said, comparing it to having to learn a new language.
“My training has certainly made me reflect on what it’s like to be a kid again,” Dunning said. “It’s a reminder that things don’t always come easily, even when you have experience.”
Though it’s a whole new learning experience for her, Dunning said she hopes that it’s the first stepping stone into seeing facility dogs in schools across the district.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924 -7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.