Veteran Steve Krist teaches high school creative writing in Jacksonville, and his K9 partner, Mack, makes sure the lessons keep coming every day.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Service dogs make living a normal life possible for so many veterans who battle post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
K9s For Warriors has provided nearly 1,000 veterans with service dogs since 2011 and one of those veterans is Steve Krist. He says his K9 companion, Mack, keeps him teaching high school in Jacksonville.
The only thing conventional about Krist’s creative writing class at River City Science Academy, is roll call. From there, it’s anything but a normal class.
“I like to be very unconventional,” Krist told First Coast News.
One day, Krist’s lesson for students was to write a short film with found footage. His students quickly reported to class, but then they were out the door to work on their videos. And as they left the class, Mack joined right along them. For this class, having a dog join them is just a part of the unconventional that has become conventional.
“He’s got that cot in my classroom and is under my desk, he just chills most of the day,” Krist said.
For obvious reasons, Mack is one of the most popular guys in school. So popular that kids at the school have decided to put him on the ballot.
“They took a photoshop of him, put him on a surfboard and he ran for class president,” Krist said. “He would have won,” Krist said, but technicalities and actual human job responsibilities prevented it.
“We’ll just say he’s a special envoy to the president,” Krist said.
And if any of his creative writing students needs a topic to write about, novels could be penned about how Steve and Mack came together.
“I joined the Marine Corps when I was 17,” Krist told First Coast News, adding that he spent time all over the United States and served a deployment to Iraq.
But, it was his job in the military, in having to do the indescribable, caused so much trauma. As a casualty assistance calls officer, Krist had to deliver the news to a mother, a father, that their son or daughter had been killed and wouldn’t be coming home.
“We’re the people that rang the doorbell,” Krist said. “The families need someone to blame so, you take that upon you,” he said.
It was an incredible burden that took a toll on Krist.
“When I retired, I was really good at trying to hide my emotions but, I was very bad at hiding my emotions,” Krist said. “I was just angry, I was unapproachable,” he added.
This in turn, made his job as a teacher almost unbearable.
“I hate saying it, but I almost quit several times because it was just too much,” Krist said.
But, the twist in Krist’s story comes from his little girl.
“My daughter found K9s For Warriors,” Krist said.
Krist’s daughter filled out all of his paperwork and put it down on the table in front of him. He remember his daughter saying, “Hey, sign this.”
From there, the process began and a life-saving relationship was born.
“Every now and then, Mack will get up and lean against me, and when he leans against me, that tells me I need to relax,” Krist told First Coast News. “He senses something going on.”
So, Mack keeps Steve in the classroom. A new chapter written in class every day, in the story of a hero’s journey that’s no longer taken alone.
“I love it,” Krist said. “I love teaching here. And that’s him for me, he’s that guaranteed idea that we’re going to do this together.”
