Loving. Patient. Calming. Obedient. Those are words that both students and teachers used to describe the memory of Mr. Burch, the district’s emotional therapy dog and loving companion of Career Skills teacher Carol Chapman.

Chapman adopted Mr. Burch around 12 to 13 years ago for her birthday from a Doberman breeder. He was about six weeks old at the time.

“I used to work in an all male correction facility and the clerk that worked for me was named Mr. Burch,” Chapman said. “And he was helpful, kind, and just wanted to do a good job. He really inspired me to be a good person and not give up what I thought was right- to not give into unkindness. He was someone that was grateful. So, in a way, Mr. Burch reminded me of Mr. Burch.”

Initially, after Chapman began working for the Special Ed Co-Op, she started to feel like her dog would serve better helping in a lockdown facility or something of the sort.

“We had a lot of students that had pretty severe behavior problems, whether they got in trouble with the law or abused drugs, and I just felt like the dog I had would be good at helping,” Chapman said. “So I got him certified and then I got transferred to the high school.”

However, a grown Doberman walking the halls took some getting used to.

“I think most of the students really liked Burch. Of course, when he first started serving, we were at the old campus and it was pretty scary for some students. And before he got his vest, he didn’t have any ID on him,” Chapman said. “So here’s this black Doberman walking down the halls and it’s pretty scary; students would slam against the lockers and go ‘oh! A drug dog!’ So for a while I think it was scary up until they figured out what he was for.”

“He let people pet him a lot,” senior Maria Torres said. “He would lay his head down on your lap, too. I used to see him all the time and he was such a good dog.”

Due to working in a cloistered environment in which handicapped students normally didn’t go out in the public, residents of the community had difficulties communicating with them.

“When we started, it was pretty tough for people to see someone in a wheelchair or someone you spoke to and they couldn’t speak back,” Chapman said. “Burch was kind of like the bridge that helped people in the community be more comfortable talking with the handicapped. They saw the dog, which made them want to talk to him, and eventually they started talking to the kid. Burch also gave the students something to be in charge of other than themselves.”

“He was really calming for the students and he had a lot of patience,” Life Skills teacher Brandy Mayfield said.

Burch soon became a part of the Emergency Response Team, which dealt with grievances in the school.

“He would go into the classrooms with the students or into the grieving room to just befriend the students and try to help them,” Chapman said.

Burch was later diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS (which is when the bone tissues thicken causing them to slowly lose their function), although his active personality never let it stop him from working.

“He never felt bad about his ALS or lied there like ‘I’m not going to work!’ He didn’t feel bad for himself- he was always glad to be around people. Especially teenagers. He liked adults, but if there was a group of students, then he’d be in the middle of it,” Chapman said.

But then on April 10, tragedy struck when Chapman noticed he wasn’t being his normal energetic self.

“I was working horses and it was probably 7:30 pm when I realized he wasn’t moving much and that he wasn’t where I was which was really unusual,” Chapman said. “I was texting the vet and he said ‘you know, you need to get him to a vet quick and if he has this gastric dilatation then they can do surgery on him if it’s not already too late.’ We talked about what that might look like. What does too late look like? What would they do for him?”

With emotions running high, Chapman chose not to let him die in the company of strangers.

“I didn’t want Burch to go down like that. You know, because it’d be strangers and I wouldn’t get to talk to him. And the vet said that at that point he didn’t know if they could do anything. He said ‘you have to get him up and in the vehicle’ and I said he wouldn’t move, and that I was going to hurt him and he said ‘if he’s not moving then it may already be too late,’” Chapman said. “I just lied there and stayed with him. He died at 3:30 that morning.”

His passing not only shook Chapman but the rest of the fellow students and teachers who had previously worked with him.

Mr. Burch is buried in her front yard under his favorite tree. He may be gone but his fulfilling life and undying memory remain.

“He spent his whole life serving other people. Not many Dobermans get to go to all of the places he’s gone, do as many things as he’s done,” Chapman said. “From old folk’s homes to daycare to a screaming pep-rally, then a day long trail ride, I think he’s had a pretty indulging life.”