On a windy day on South Forsyth’s football field, several unconventional players warm-up for the next home game. Teachers, students, admin, and Mr. Jeff White in a referee uniform, wait patiently on the sidelines to watch the players run through the infamous inflatable helmet. Cheers erupt from the stands as sidelines as the players, canine assistant puppies, run onto the field. 

“I really love puppies and the part where the puppies ran out onto their little field literally made me go into awe. It was honestly really hard to pick who I wanted to be in the lead because I loved them all!” freshman Keira Croston noted after the game.

Canine Assistants is a non-profit association that educates dogs and the people who need them, so they may improve the lives of one another. They provide service dogs for children and adults with disabilities. Every Wednesday, Canine Assistants visits South, and students are allowed to visit the atrium during their lunch period or passing periods to pet and interact with the puppies. Students can pet and play with the puppies in order for them to relieve stress and to make the day of both the service dog and the student. The Puppy Bowl was an event that South hosted in order to raise money for the non-profit; students and teachers paid $2 a ticket to visit the field during their IF period. 

“Every Wednesday seeing the canine assistants dogs makes my week so much better and today with the puppies completely made my year! They were just the cutest and all their handlers are super nice and I loved helping them out.” junior Mina Amirkhani commented.

Jeff White begins the game with a water-bowl coin toss–with the home team choosing to play defense; as soon as the football is thrown into play, the puppies race to it, and the canine helpers guide their dogs to the end zone. As the game goes on, some puppies become more adventurous and decide they want to hang out with the fans for a while, so Mr. White calls a half-time for the students and faculty to play with the puppies before they race back to the field. The handlers soon join their pups on the field and begin to start throwing–the now multiple–footballs on the field. However, some technical difficulties arose as an ambitious puppy popped both of the inflatable footballs. Nevertheless, the game continued on and ended with a tie.

Both the students and the faculty were able to celebrate and raise money for a non-profit that is so well integrated into the culture and community of South.

“The puppy bowl was super cute and it’s for a good cause, so I think it should be held at South every year.” freshman Angela Tan remarked.