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: janldawson@gmail.com

Dr. K. A. Dawson, PsychologistCell phone: 250-899-1794Email:

kadawsonphd@gmail.com