83rd Graduation Recognizes 34 New Service Dog and Assistance Dog Teams

NEADS held its 83rd Graduation Ceremony on Sunday, November 5 at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School (“Monty Tech”). Supported by family, friends, NEADS staff, volunteer puppy raisers, and other supporters, NEADS Service Dog and Assistance Dog teams spoke about living with a Service Dog during a moving ceremony to celebrate their life-changing partnerships. 

This fall’s graduating class represents a wide range of NEADS Service Dogs, including Service Dogs for Veterans, Service Dogs for individuals with physical disabilities, Service Dogs for Hearing, Service Dogs for Children, and Assistance Dogs for professionals in classroom, courthouse, and hospital settings. The class of graduating teams come from Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Nova Scotia, Canada.

The program also included the presentation of the 2023 Spirit Award to NEADS client KateLynne Steinke in recognition of the work she does educating people all across the country about Service Dog etiquette, laws, access rights, and other issues. 

Many thanks to all who helped make this a special day, including our fabulous volunteer photographers, Richard Prager and the Stony Brook Camera Club Volunteers! group.