When fourth-grader Sam Petersen arrives at the bottom of the slide on his school playground, unlike most students at Bethel Elementary, he sometimes has a canine friend waiting for him.
His friend is NIKKI, a certified educational and rehabilitative assistance dog handled by the physical therapists for Cabarrus County Schools. NIKKI has a unique way of motivating Sam to do physical activities that have been challenging for him in the past without hesitation, said Sharon Antoszyk, lead physical therapist for Cabarrus County Schools and NIKKI’s handler.
“When we talk about success stories with NIKKI, he’s it,” Antoszyk said.
NIKKI was trained by female inmates at a federal penitentiary in West Virginia through the nonprofit group paws4people.
Antoszyk has had NIKKI since 2008, and began bringing her into local schools to help children with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities in the fall of 2008. NIKKI visits self-contained and traditional classrooms to help motivate students to overcome challenges and assist in learning about various concepts, Antoszyk said.
“She’s just a great motivator,” Antoszyk said. “We have kids work because she’s there. They try things they don’t normally try.”
Several years ago, Sam’s physical therapist, Nancy Kiger, was struggling to help him reach his goal of climbing on his school’s playground equipment and stairs. Sam was born with a congenital heart defect, and his motor skills were affected after suffering from two strokes at an early age, his mother, Jennifer Petersen, said.
After wracking her brain for a solution, Kiger asked Antoszyk to bring NIKKI to the school.
“It was like night and day,” Kiger said. “His mind was on NIKKI. He did everything so differently and better. He tried new things.”
Before he met NIKKI, Sam walked a little slower in the hallways at school and needed help climbing on some of the playground equipment.
Now, he walks faster and gets on playground equipment without hesitation. Sam began doing some of those things by holding on to NIKKI’s leash, and now, he does not always need it.
Antoszyk and Kiger said that NIKKI does not do one thing in particular to help Sam, but she is present.
“She sits and waits for him,” Antoszyk said. “That doesn’t seem like much, but it’s huge for him.”
Kiger added that Sam is able to focus on NIKKI and is not distracted with everything else happening around him.
Sam also has overcome the challenges of the steps onto the school bus and has shared information about NIKKI with his classmates, which improves his verbal interactions with his peers, Kiger and Antoszyk said.
“It’s helped in all kinds of ways,” Antoszyk said.
Sam said he loves NIKKI and enjoys seeing her do tricks.
“He looks forward to seeing NIKKI,” Jennifer Petersen said. “He’s excited to show her the new things he learns and as he becomes more independent with his motor skills…She gives him his audience.”
Kiger is now the handler of another, new service dog, CAROLINE, who will join NIKKI and also work in the schools with students.
Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
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