Severna Park Senior Partners With Hero Dogs For SkillsUSA Project

Hero Dogs Inc., a Maryland nonprofit, improves quality of life for U.S. heroes by raising, training, and placing service dogs and other highly skilled canines, free of charge, with veterans and first responders.

With a small staff and more than 150 dedicated volunteers, including students like high school senior Kyle Smith, Hero Dogs is committed to this mission. Its headquarters are in Brookeville, Maryland, and it serves the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

“SkillsUSA is a student-led organization that prepares students for the workforce. Also, in SkillUSA, we compete. That is where my project comes into play,” Smith said. “This year, I am doing the project called Community Action and we decided to work with the organization Hero Dogs to sponsor a service dog to donate to a veteran.”

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit career and technical student organization (CTSO) for high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations across the nation. According to the Maryland SkillsUSA website, Region 3 – which includes Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City – will have its next competition in February 2024.

“With this project, our goal was to get as many people as possible to help and get involved,” Smith said. “So far, I have had a handful of people [who] have contributed to my project including Daryl Thomas, Kirra Heward, Jonae Hargrow, Jaeda Raup-West and many more.”

SPHS hosted a Harvest for the Hungry tournament-style competition between classes this fall. Teacher Bethany Fish won first place in the bracket, while her coworker Heather Allam won “no duty all of second semester” since she does not teach a class during the 1A period. Many students in organizations such as SkillsUSA, National Honor Society and Student Government Association have donated to and volunteered for many fundraisers this first semester.

“For this project, my short-term goal is to raise $5,000 and our high-end goal was $10,000,” Smith said. “Also, to get as many people [as] possible to get involved. I have made significant progress so far, but we still have a long way to go to reach our final goal.”

In late October, SkillsUSA held its first event at senior night for football, with volunteers selling T-shirts to go toward the fundraiser.

“We are planning to do many more events soon at the basketball games and other winter sports games this winter season,” Smith said.

Those who cannot attend any games can go online on the SPHS SkillsUSA Instagram page (@skillsusa_sphs) and locate the post about Smith’s project to buy a shirt or donate to the cause.

“I would just like to say that it has been a great opportunity being a part of SkillsUSA and having two wonderful advisers, Mrs. [Roxanne] Angerer and Mrs. [Michelle] Dugans, [who] have supported me throughout high school and my SkillsUSA journey,” Smith said.