A new club is coming to campus with a focus on man’s best friend. The Mililani High School Good Dogs Club is a recently formed service club with a focus on dogs. It is also the first club with an emphasis on animals at Mililani High School.

     “I really love animals and dogs, and specifics, and I just thought it would be a very fun thing to do and a good opportunity to make friends and stuff,” Club President Junior Clare Sullivan said. 

     The Good Dogs Club formed at the end of September. It is advised by English and Journalism teacher Chrisopher Sato and consists of five officers: President Sullivan, Vice President Junior Jenna Kim, Secretary Senior Willow Otaka, Historian Senior Lyndsey Hagihara, and Treasurer Sophomore Brynn Vincent. The club plans to educate people about ethical ways to care for dogs, as well as have lessons about behavior and training for them.

     “For the dog club, it actually started because Mr. Sato wanted to make a club where we could help dogs and help educate people about dogs,” Hagihara said. “So we got together, like the officers, we got our officers together, and now our mission is to kind of help spread awareness about dogs, educate people, and to do projects where we can do hands-on activities with dogs.”

     The club hopes to plan activities with organizations like the Humane Society and Paws of Hawaii as a way to help the community. It focuses on bettering the world in some way like any service club. However, what sets it apart is the emphasis on animals. 

     “This is the first club, I believe, where we get interaction with animals. That’s the main focus,” Hagihara said. “And I think a lot of students would like that, especially because when they bring in the dogs during lunch time, and then students get to play with them and pet them, kind of help relieve their stress.” 

     In past years, ASMHS brought therapy dogs to campus during finals weeks to help students decompress. The Good Dogs Club hopes to continue bringing in these dogs, but because the school has a no-pet policy, animal interaction on campus will be limited and must be approved. 

     The club has not had any official meetings yet. Even so, the officers enjoy interacting and are excited to get the club officially started.

     “I really like the people we’re working with,” Vincent said. “I think we have a really good group of officers that I’m working with right now. And our advisor is really good, too. So I think the people make it really fun and yeah, working with them is also really great.”

     Once the club begins to get members, it will plan more activities like virtual meetings and social media events for club members to get to know each others’ dogs. The Good Dogs Club plans to have its first informational meeting on Thursday, November 12th at 2:15 p.m. Those who are interested in joining can fill out the Google Form on the club’s Instagram, @gooddogsclubmhs (or follow the link https://forms.gle/smjHTm9b9qUXTuhH6).