This 2025-2026 school year, Riverside Brookfield High School welcomed a new friend to the community. Harley, a three-year-old service dog, comes to RB each day to provide support for staff and students. This golden retriever is meant to provide relief from daily struggles and challenges for everyone in the RB community.
Assistant Principal David Mannon originally suggested the idea after observing a facility dog in a school a few years earlier. Mannon appreciated how that dog fostered a healthy and supportive environment, and envisioned how that could be incorporated at RB. This idea was first put into action in the last few years with service dogs coming to visit RB.
“Canines 4 Comfort was able to link us up with Oak Brook Terrace Police Department, and their deputy chief, Dave Clark, had three dogs that he was training,” Mannon said. “He brought them here before final exams, large breaks, and senior sunrise.”
These three dogs comforted students during the stressful test season and brought joy to the school environment. The success of this venture convinced RB to consider a full-time service dog as an addition to the school. Harley, one of the three dogs, stood out to the administrators and ultimately motivated them to put the plan into action.
“That’s where Harley came into play because Harley was here the last year or two, and we just saw his temperament and knew he’d be a great fit for us,” Mannon said.
From here, RB worked with the Oak Brook Terrace Police Department and Canines 4 Comfort to get approval to take Harley in as a full-time facility dog. Once the plans were arranged, it was determined that Mannon would be Harley’s main handler, meaning he would take Harley home each night. Additionally, even though Harley is fully trained, Mannon takes Harley to a training facility once a week to further his instruction.
“We go through training, and he works with facility dogs throughout the state that Canines 4 Comfort has placed,” Mannon said.
During training, Harley works with dogs from schools, fire departments, and even directly with veterans. Though Harley has a busy schedule with training and coming to RB each day, he has his own home life with Mannon and his family.
“I have two young boys that are seven and nine,” Mannon said. “They love it. I also have a three-year-old Finnish Spitz, and they became buddies. They play around, and it’s been a good environment.”
In addition to a healthy network at home, Harley promotes an encouraging school environment. During the day, Harley is available for students to pet and spend time with. Principal Hector Freytas strongly backs this new addition to the school and believes it provides both physical and emotional benefits for students, improving overall health.
“We’ve noticed students that have displayed more characteristics of anxiety, of depression, of isolation, of distance, and we are hoping that Harley, our comfort dog, could help bridge that gap and make students feel loved, cared for, included and [that] there’s someone there for them,” Freytas said.
Not only does Harley care for students, but he also contributes a friendly presence during staff meetings.
“He attends our staff meetings,” Mannon said. “I’ll just kind of let him go. He’ll be saying hi and walking through the aisles and greeting and meeting staff prior to our meetings and even during our meetings. It’s just another added benefit just to have some comfort in an environment where sometimes there’s some stress.”
This new contribution to RB has proven to be advantageous for both staff and students, providing a friendly companion and offering support during challenging times. Harley acts as somewhat of a coping mechanism to handle stress and daily obstacles. Whether it’s before school, out on the field, or in classrooms, Harley is there as a comfort.
“I think the easiest thing for me to see is just the reflection of people’s expressions, and so putting smiles on faces, that’s number one,” Mannon said. “People light up when they see him, and then some of our students that may be on the shyer side or that we don’t see a lot of emotion or effect out of gravitate towards him, which is awesome because that’s an opportunity for us to connect with students.”
