NORFOLK — Botelle Elementary School librarian Maryann Beauchene has a lot to celebrate this year. Chosen as the Norfolk School District’s 2012 Teacher of the Year, she has also gained recognition for her extensive work with therapy dogs, brightening the lives of both children and adults with her friendly poodles Remington and Buddy.During a morning session at the school Thursday, Jan. 19, Beauchene brought the father-and-son dog duo for a weekly appointment with special-needs students in the Shared Services Bridges I autism program. Remington, nicknamed Remi, has a curly white-and-gray coat. He is the father of Buddy, his darker gray counterpart. The friendly canines walked together calmly in unison, requiring a minimum of commands, and had no qualms about stepping on and off an elevator to get to the school library.Beauchene explained that therapy dogs help students develop social skills that are required for learning in other classes.“The job of the dogs is continuously changing,” Beauchene said. “Originally, as a librarian, I would have the students come to the library and read to the dogs. The dogs are non-judgmental, and they’re always paying attention to what the kids are doing. So we started off with reading therapy. Now the ideal thing to do with therapy dogs is to have a goal-oriented program.”Beauchene said students learn to calm down around Remi and Buddy and are offered the reward of free time with the dogs if they learn to control their behavior. Simple tasks such as hooking a leash to a dog’s collar can be difficult for autistic children, and the development of motor skills required to walk the dogs up and down the school hallways is considered a significant achievement.“We had one student who came in as a pre-kindergarten student. When the dogs walked in, he headed toward the door, screaming. Now that kid is in fifth grade and he’ll actually come up and touch the dogs,” she said. “For someone to go through life being that afraid of dogs and then being able to overcome that is a big deal. He may not love dogs, but at least he’s not having a panic attack.”Students who came to see Remi and Buddy last Thursday had a range of autism-related issues, most often exhibited through hyperactivity. Beauchene had them sit with the dogs for reading time, and even had one student lie down next to the dogs with a blanket for some quiet time.“It’s animal-assisted therapy,” she said. “And it doesn’t have to be dogs.”In fact, sitting in a cage across the room was Chicago, a golden tabby with an unmistakably mellow demeanor. A couple of the students found time to visit quietly with Chicago and read with him in a corner of the room. After visiting with the dogs, reading to them and walking them through the school hallways, the students had all visibly settled down, which Beauchene said would hopefully make it easier for them to learn in the academic classes.“Most of these kids can read,” Beauchene said. “And if they can read, think of how much of the world that opens up for them. Most kids with autism are not low-functioning, and when I look at them, sometimes we have little accomplishments, and I think to myself, ‘that opened up the world for them.’” Now in her 18th year as the Botelle librarian, Beauchene has chosen to retire at the end of this year, but she is finishing on a high note. She took home the Norfolk School District’s 2012 Teacher of the Year award for her years of work at the school and said she is looking forward to building a new career with animal therapy. She brings Remi and Buddy to visit adult residents at Community Residences Inc. on Willow Street and to another adult living facility in East Hartford. Beauchene said she believes special-needs students in Norfolk are in good hands at Botelle Elementary School and that her animal therapy with Remi and Buddy has served to complement an already successful program.“These are students who will probably always have special needs, but their condition will improve,” she said. “I think that because Botelle School is such a small school and all the teachers know all the students, I couldn’t think of a better place to put kids with special needs. They make a lot of progress.”
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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