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Mary Ellen Humane Education Programs
We would like to dedicate Mary Ellen Humane Education Programs
to our son, Riley and to the dogs we have loved in our family.
We need your support
We want to make this program a reality. We are seeking:
A non-profit organization to sponsor our program
Start-up and operating funds Land and facilities on which to run
our program Foster homes for dogs for duration
of the program Dog trainer Volunteers – we’d welcome teachers,
therapists, social workers, veterinarians, handymen, etc.
OUR MISSION
Mary Ellen Humane Education Program aims to help
traumatized youth and shelter dogs to learn to
trust themselves and each other so both can
experience fulfilling, successful relationships.
-Frequent foster home changes-Frightened, terrified-Attachment difficulties
Mary Ellen Humane Education
Programs
Who is Mary
Ellen?
Programming Features Participants - children in grades 6 to 12 who have been
traumatized by abuse and are only attending school at most five half-days per week
Youth will train dogs to the level of Canadian Canine Good Citizen™ Certification endorsed by the Responsible Dog Owners of Canada
Strategic Humane Intervention Program - SHIP (Loar & Colman, 2004) will be the basis for our character education program
Stand-By-Me Program: Graduates of SHIP will be eligible to apply for education in humane business planning. It is our goal, through social entrepreneurship, to create a canine-oriented business that will help sustain Mary Ellen Humane Education Programs.
Empirical Basis Recent empirical findings support prosocial
values-based character education (e.g., Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
Humane education has long-lasting positive impacts on children (Ascione, 1997)
SHIP is a social emotional learning program like those found to yield improvements in social skills, emotion management, attitudes, behaviour, and academic performance (Durlak et al., 2011).
Mary Ellen OverviewPhase I Phase II Phase III
START-UPScreening, hiring, orienting staff, volunteers, and dog fosters; facility setup3-4 months
SHIPSix traumatized at-risk youth8 weeks3 hrs/day, 5 days/week4 cohorts/year ongoingSix dogs sourced from shelters or local rescue groupsDogs housed in dog-foster homes
STAND BY ME8 graduates of Phase IISix months3 hrs/day, 5 days/week2 cohorts per year
CLASSROOM TIME Critical enquiry about the
values inherent in healthy, pro-social relationships
Empathy, and the importance of safety will be emphasized
Dog training Practice and play time with
dogs Debrief time and project work
OCCUPATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Canine-oriented job skills Social entrepreneurship Setting up a non-profit
The topics and themes covered in the Mary Ellen Humane Education Program are:
Mastery Empathy Future Orientation Literacy Social Conscience Staying the Course
Serial Killer Keith Jesperson
“Happy Face Killer” by Krueger, Justice, & Hunt. 2006. Department of Psychology, Radford University.
We are wanting to help these youth before they get to the point of hurting others.
Writing from his cell in the Oregon State Penitentiary, Jesperson recognized, “Abusive behavior towards animals is one of the symptoms on the road to being a murderer.” He wrote that “we should stop … cruelty … before it develops into a bigger problem, like me.”
Research supports Jesperson’s warning:
Children who have themselves been physically and/or sexually abused or witnessed abuse are more likely to be cruel to animals or people (Ascione, 2001).
When children were interviewed in a Utah study at a domestic violence shelter, 50% of the children reported they had tried to intervene to protect their pets and/or their mothers from abuse.
Film clip from Teacher’s Pet: Dogs and Kids Working Together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-K64soKdKw
Contact Us
Jan Dawson, Humane EducatorCell phone: 250-899-1795 Email: [email protected]
Dr. K. A. Dawson, PsychologistCell phone: 250-899-1794Email: