Therapy dog “LeCrae” joins Conway Schools thanks to Arvest Foundation Grant

By Shelby Atkison

shelby.atkison@marshfieldmail.com

Students in Conway have a new four-legged friend roaming the halls this school year, thanks to a special partnership between the Laclede County R-I School District, the Arvest Foundation, and a Kansas-based nonprofit dedicated to training assistance animals.

LeCrae, a nearly two-year-old Labrador mix, was introduced to Conway’s secondary students during an assembly last week and will meet elementary students in the coming days. Specially trained as a therapeutic assistance dog, LeCrae is already bringing comfort and connection to students and staff.

Sarah Lowe, Community Bank Lender at Arvest Bank, said the grant that made LeCrae’s arrival possible came through the Arvest Foundation, whose mission is to support local communities through nonprofits, schools, and organizations.

“Locally, the employees here in Marshfield had heard about the opportunity Conway schools had, and through the Arvest Foundation, we wanted to be a part of it,” Lowe explained. “We believe in empowering people and organizations to make a difference. Our students are our future, and if we can do something to support them, we want to do that. When the grant was awarded, it allowed the school to purchase LeCrae, and he went right to work. He was there the very first day students arrived. We feel like anything we can do to empower the next generation will make a lasting difference.”

For Kim Shelton, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent and one of LeCrae’s certified handlers, the experience of bringing him to Conway has been nothing short of transformative.

“The joy I felt when they rounded the corner and announced he was ours brought tears to my eyes,” she said. “I was so moved by a dog I had just met, and then I was hit with the magnitude of the responsibility before me. It was our job to make sure this dog continued to meet the high standards he’d been trained to and never lost sight of the role he was going to play in everyone’s lives.”

LeCrae came to Conway through CARES, Inc., a nonprofit based in Concordia, Kansas, that trains service and therapy dogs for placement across the United States and in several other countries. CARES uses a unique training model in which puppies are raised and trained inside prison systems by inmates before completing final socialization and skill training with professionals.

“We had to go out to Kansas for a week of training,” Shelton explained. “Meeting the inmates who had helped raise and train these dogs was powerful. It’s clear that the number of lives touched by CARES goes far beyond just the recipients of the dogs themselves. In our class alone there were 24 dogs, going to people from New York, Colorado, California, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Illinois, Canada, and, of course, Missouri. Some were medical alert dogs, others therapy dogs like LeCrae. It was incredible to be part of that.”

Shelton said the decision to pursue a therapy dog for Conway was made more than two years ago when the school’s previous therapy dog, Barbie, neared retirement.

“We knew the process took time, and we wanted to be ready,” she said. “I volunteered to be the dog’s owner and bring him to work every day. In the end, it’s been a blessing in ways I couldn’t have imagined. My family supported me through the training, and my son-in-law, who now works here, became certified as a handler alongside me. Having LeCrae here is already making a difference. He’s settling in, greeting students, and becoming part of our school family.”

Shelton said the Laclede County R-I School District is deeply grateful to Arvest for making this possible.

“Conway’s budget couldn’t have supported something like this on its own,” she said. “We are so thankful for Arvest’s willingness to invest in our kids and in our community. This program is changing lives, and we’re proud to be a part of it.”