Poplar Bluff Junior High is the first R-I school to add a second certified therapy dog, this one designated to serve students with special needs, after a community partner led a successful fundraising effort.

The newly created drama production class at Poplar Bluff Junior High was awarded $500, one of 11 grants presented last month out of 24 applications in Region 12 of the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation, according to officials.

Poplar Bluff Junior High was among 50 schools nationwide, and only two in Missouri, out of over 500 applicants to be awarded a $1,000 Thomas R. Brown Athletics grant on Thursday, May 25, during a schoolwide assembly.