Tag: students

Animals, Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Love, UTC

Paws on Patrol

Written by Mackenzie Sweat

Corporal Aaron Bayer with UTCPD’s therapy dog, Sophie on UTC campus. Thursday, November 12th, 2025. (Photo By Mackenzie Sweat).

As classes let out, crowds of students swarm UTC’s campus, their minds heavy with the weight of homework or homelife. A sight stops them in their tracks, a furry four-legged animal with a shiny gold badge on her chest. This is Sophie, the new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Police Department K9 therapy dog. As students approach Sophie instantly, the energy shifts. What were anxious frowns, are now smiling faces and calm minds, just by petting her soft fur.

Sophie, a 13-month-old lab, started her role on Nov. 3 alongside UTC Police Corporal Aaron Bayer, who is responsible for community engagement. Sophie has been in her position for just under a month, and Bayer has already seen students react very positively to her. 

 “We went from being nobodies to… students calling and asking for us, and people stopping by the police department just to see her (Sophie). Students remember her name. They see us on campus now, and they’ll come running toward her,’’ said Bayer. He notices what kind of impact Sophie has had on campus.

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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, teachers

More Than Grades, A Student Teacher’s Relationship With Her Students

Story by Meagan Alford

Kalani Cannon’s refrigerator at her home is adorned in several drawings, doodles, and notes from her students at Soddy Daisy middle school. It’s called “Miss Kalani’s Fridge of Fame.” One amongst several students whose artwork is on display drew a rainbow with them and Miss Kalani standing underneath. To its left is a mermaid with blue hair, little hands that have been made into a camel and a dinosaur, and a note that reads, “Miss Kalani is fun, kind, helpful, cool, sweet, loving, outgoing, weird, funny, crazy, awesome, amazing, and kid-friendly.” 

Kalani Cannon shares details about maintaining the balance between being a college student and a student teacher. Video by Nessa Parrish.

Cannon is twenty-one years old. She’s an artist, sitting in front of a colorful backdrop that she created herself in her basement. She’s a skateboarder, kicking her Vans back and forth underneath her seat. And now, she is in the second phase of her residency as a full-time student teacher for sixth-grade science at Soddy Daisy middle school.

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