By Chloe Nash, Editor-in-Chief
February 7, 2025
ROCKLAND- Dog Block is getting very popular but many students have been picking studies.
Dog Block was made for “Students and staff to be able to find common interests and make connections outside of the classroom,” said Ms. Kathleen Paulding, assistant principal.
There are over 200 students who have picked study for their Dog Block, and the reason is that students forget to fill out the form or that they fill out a certain Dog Block too many times and have to be put somewhere else.
To fix this, Ms. Paulding will hopefully be rolling out a new app called MyFlex Learning.
The new app will be able to tell students right away if their choice is full and if they need to pick something new.
“I’m hoping that this will eliminate some people writing community service three times or basketball multiple times,” she added.
By the end of next week, Ms. Paulding hopes to have sent out an email to students to share how the new app works and sign up.
“It is important for students to have somebody they feel connected to in the building and if it isn’t naturally happening in the classroom then we have to do whatever we can to try to make it happen somewhere else,” Ms. Paulding highlighted.
Ms. Freea Leahy, a guidance counselor who runs the community service Dog Block, hopes that many students will sign up for the community service opportunity.
So far, this Dog Block has done reading to the students at Phelps Elementary, written notes to veterans, made holiday cards for the senior center, and they will again be reading a special book to the elementary students again.
Ms. Leahy enjoys how much the students have liked everything and how enthusiastic they have been.
“I wish more would do community service and want to be involved in the many offerings,” Ms. Leahy remarked.
Ms. Janyce Kemp, a history teacher who does the community service dog block, has loved to see the impact of the high school students on the elementary students.
Ms. Kemp said, “ The elementary students look at the high school students like they’re the coolest people in the world so it really inspires mentorship.”
Ms. Kemp hopes that instead of having a study, students decide to choose community service because “it’s nice to be involved with kids that you wouldn’t typically see and it is cool to know that you did something positive.”