Headline: The Buddy System

Subhead: ELHS students and staff support Haslett High School after loss of their principal

It’s finals week. The week when Caitlin Pertner’s (11) most viewed browser is
ExamCalculator.com. The week when she spends hours studying when she only has to get a 50
percent to keep an A, and yet still spends every waking minute holding on to that 10 percent of
her grade.

And Pertner knew she wasn’t the only one who stressed out like this. So as co-president on
Students for Mental Health club and student representative on the Mental Health Advisory
Board, she, the administration and student services had planned on Buddy’s Pals Pet Assisted
Learning Service coming the Monday and Tuesday before finals. They knew that dogs would
give students a break from their stress and allow them to relax.

However, that plan changed when Haslett High School Principal Bart Wegenke passed away on
Jan. 11. It was then Associate Principal Matthew Morales and academic counselor Joshua
Barrons communicated with Buddy's Pals and decided to send the emotional support dogs to
Haslett.

“When they contacted us, they were ready to make that decision regardless, but they wanted to
communicate with us what they were thinking,” Morales said. “We just wanted to support the
Haslett school district and the students and staff there.”

Morales didn’t want ELHS’s support to end there. Communicating with secretary Nikki Tabor,
they decided to make a poster where students and staff could post sticky notes with affirming
messages that would be delivered to the school.

On a whim, Tabor saw Pertner and Emily Cheltenham (11) in the hallway and asked if they
could start the project.

So, during their excel period the two got out a roll of paper and wrote, “We support our fellow
peers at Haslett High School.” Afterward, Findlay encouraged everyone who walked by to write
something on the poster.

“I think for East Lansing students, we learned that unexpected events can happen, so we really
have to appreciate people while we can.” Pertner said. “And I think on the Haslett students, it
made them feel a little bit more supported. We wanted to let them know that we were
acknowledging them and what they were going through, we wanted them to know that we
believe in them and that they will get through this.”