[nagdu] Guide dog schools

[Raven Tolliver]

Hi Tracy,
As someone who attended GEB, I believe the family atmosphere that most
students' experience has more to do with the level of attention and
help they receive from everyone, not just their assigned instructor.
The instructors, nurses, and kitchen staff were all willing to
accommodate students' needs and requests. If anyone needed help, there
was always someone available who could assist you or answer your
questions. They treated us with the most care and compassion, you
know, like family members.
Also, the atmosphere during my class was very casual and laid-back.
None of the staff were uptight about anything. They would eat meals
with us, joke around with us, and they never talked to any of us as if
we were below them.
In addition, while GEB set boundaries for the dogs in dorm rooms, the
instructors never jumped down anyone's throat for not sticking to
those boundaries. For instance, a friend of mine allowed her dog up on
her bed. An instructor visited her to talk about something and saw
this, but the instructor did not scold her about it at all. Another
time, my instructor walked back to my room with me to look at
something. When we entered my room, my dog was freely roaming my room.
Now, we had only been together for 2 weeks. He had left my cheese and
crackers on the night table untouched, the food bin in the open closet
untouched, and the plastic waste bin on the ground untouched. My
instructor did not scold me about this at all. She only commented that
I had a very good dog.
So that familial atmosphere has nothing to do with the negative things
you listed. It is about the way staff interact with students. Of
course, we associate it with our own school because that's the
experience we have to speak of. Not because our school is hovering
over us like helicopter parents, or because other schools don't
measure up, or because other schools are below ours.

On 2/5/14, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
> I saw someone here with a Guiding Eyes dog trot out the old chestnut about
> how formal The Seeing Eye is.  I guess it was formal, 40 years ago, but it
> hasn't been so for quite a long time.  It's amazing how long that idea is
> sticking around.
> To me, the atmosphere at TSE was like that at GDB, what I call friendly but
>
> professional.
> I often hear people talk about the "family atmosphere" of their school.  I'm
>
> never sure what that means.  Does it mean people who feel they can poke into
>
> my personal business?  Does it mean people who gossip about everyone else?
> Does it mean we're us, and they're the big smelly them?
> None of these things appeal to me.  I'm more comfortable with friendly
> professional--we like each other, but mainly we're here to do a great job
> together.
> Tracy
>
>
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-- 
Raven