Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

A woman who has worked tirelessly over the years for the therapy dog program in the Brighton Area Schools has been honored for her contributions. Karen Storey, who founded the Brighton Area Schools Pack of Dogs program, was honored by the Board of Education at a recent meeting.

Some 15 years ago, Storey, a special needs teacher at Maltby Intermediate, thought having a therapy dog might help her students cope with the every day stresses of school. She got permission from administration and then the school board to purchase one dog. That social-emotional learning dog, as Storey likes to call them, then became two, and three dogs, and finally the current complement of 13 dogs - one for each school in the district plus three at cavernous Brighton High School with its roughly 2,000 students.

It’s not everybody who gets written into the Congressional Record, but Storey accomplished just that, with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin placing into the permanent document the story of the Brighton Pack of Dogs, and the many lives they have impacted. In it, the 7th District congresswoman cited the many times the Brighton Area Schools therapy dogs have come into a highly-charged situation - such as the aftermath of the Oxford High School fatal shooting of four students and wounding of seven others in November of 2021. The Pack of Dogs has also been present to comfort students impacted by other tragedies, among them the February shootings of three Michigan State students, in which three students were killed and five others injured.

Slotkin’s district representative, Mona Stand, presented a copy of the tribute in the Congressional Record to Storey at the meeting. Also present to honor Storey for her work was State Rep. Ann Bollin, who also was representing fellow State Senator Lana Theis. Rep. Bollin read a “Special Tribute” signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Theis and herself, which states, “In her work in the Brighton Area School District, (Karen Storey) has instilled life-long skills and helped build self-confidence in thousands of youngsters who have grown to adulthood as capable and upstanding citizens.”

The Brighton Board of Education also presented a tribute to Storey for her volunteer work over the years. Board President Roger Myers cited, quote, “the profound, immeasurable impact that Karen has had on so m any lives during very difficult times.” The special ceremony, just prior to the board’s regular meeting, was attended by a packed audience of proponents and backers of the dog program.

For her part, Storey thanked all who have supported the program, adding she could not have done it without the sacrifices made by her family. She said her family often had to make do without her being around because she and the dogs were helping students - sometimes in other districts - who desperately needed their support. In thanking the handlers and other volunteers and backers of the program, Storey said, in her words, “This is really about a team, it’s not about me. Thanks for supporting me and believing in me.”

A copy of the Congressional Record from June 9, 2023, citing the accomplishments of Karen Storey and the BAS Pack of Dogs, is attached. Scroll down to "Hon. Elissa Slotkin" to view.

Top photo: Karen Storey, pictured with two of her sons: Jack (L) and Easton (R). Both made all-state for Brighton in different sports - Jack in football and Easton in baseball, and both have won college athletic scholarships.
Bottom photo: Storey, with two members of the Pack of Dogs.