Diabetic student’s service dog makes Stafford High’s yearbook – Fredericksburg.com

When Stafford High School students flip through the yearbook for the first time, they get to page 220 and gasp with surprise, Its Alpha!

Although Alpha goes to school every day like all the other students featured in the recently released yearbook, he is also a little different: Alpha is a service dog.

Alpha belongs to Andrew AJ Schalk, a 16-year-old junior at Stafford High who has Type 1 diabetes. The service dog alerts him when his blood sugar levels are too high or low by giving Schalk his paw.

He lets me know my blood sugar is fluctuating through smell anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes before I even know anything is wrong, Schalk said.

Grace Fuller, a 17-year-old junior who is on the yearbook staff, featured Alpha in a small profile in last years annual. As she sorted through this years student headshots, a photo of Alpha popped up and she knew it needed to be included.

AJ has always talked about how much he liked having Alpha at school, and he is here all the timewe see him in class and in the hallways, she said. He is a part of this school now.

A Stafford student tweeted about Alphas inclusion in the yearbook, and that post was shared thousands of times and prompted a Buzzfeed story on Wednesday that has been shared widely on social media.

Schalk started bringing his service dog to school with him last year. At first, he would take him only one day a week to get him acclimated to the new environment. Now, Alpha goes everywhere with him, including on the bus and to class.

When Alpha first started coming to school, Schalk observed many students turning their heads and saying, Wait, is that a dog? But, over the past few months, the unfamiliarity has faded, and most of the students recognize him now.

Schalk said everyone has been very accepting of having a service dog around the school. So, he wasnt surprised when he and Fuller went to his teachers and school administrators with the idea to include his four-legged friend in the yearbook and they were all for it.

Everyone has been a hundred percent supportive of him from the very beginning, Schalk said.

Schalk uses a number of tools to manage his diabetes, but Alpha has made the biggest difference in helping him to live a normal, full life.

It has turned my disability into a positive experience, Schalk said.

Alphas presence in the school has not only helped Schalk, but also other students, as well.

Schalk said his furry companion instantly lights up the school environment when they walk through the doors in the morning, and everyone looks happy to see them. Students wave and smile, and teachers say hello when the inseparable pair walk into class.

Alpha brightens the school atmosphere for all of the studentsnot just me, Schalk said. I love knowing that were having that effect on so many people.

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Diabetic student's service dog makes Stafford High's yearbook - Fredericksburg.com