The was shivering in the water wedged by tree limbs when Campbell- Langford climbed the fallen tree and scooped him from the water
Liberty School fifth grade teacher Virna Campbell-Langford is seen with an award she was given Friday for saving a dog that was stuck on a fallen tree on Porter Lake at Forest Park while she was there with her class on a field trip.SPRINGFIELD – A Liberty School teacher truly went out on a limb this week to rescue a dog at a Forest Park pond, much to the delight of her students.
Virna L. Campbell-Langford of Springfield, who teaches 5th Grade at Liberty on Carew Street, rescued the dog named Hunter during a class field trip at Forest Park on Tuesday. The dog was shivering in the water of Porter Lake, wedged between the limbs of a fallen tree when he was seen by Campbell-Langford and her students.
Campbell-Langford climbed across the tree, tried coaxing and reaching the dog with a stick, and resorted to scooping the dog, a spaniel, out of the water when it could not free itself.
On Friday, the teacher was showered with cheers and applause during a student assembly in which she was honored for her dog-saving feat.
The rescue has occurred as Campbell-Langford and her class were at Forest Park hiking and bird-watching as part of the Environmental Center for our Schools program.
“That bird watch turned into a dog rescue,” Campbell-Langford said.
Mya Santana and Natalie Hanechak, both 11, and in Grade 5, praised their teacher.
“I knew she would do it,” Santana said of the rescue. “She is a really smart teacher.
The rescue was exciting, Santana said.
As Campbell-Langford watched the girls being interviewed, Santana turned to her and said: “You have a thing for really being caring.”
“She is a teacher outside of school and inside school for all of us,” Hanechak said.
Santana used Campbell-Langford’s cellular telephone to film the rescue, which was shown to students Friday.
When the dog reached safety, “the students were cheering,” Hanechak said.
The principal, Jennifer Montano, said that Campbell-Langford’s actions are an example of true citizenship, and was a learning experience for the students. She quipped that Campbell-Langford "literally went out on a limb" to get the dog to safety.
Both during and after the rescue, the teacher spoke to the children about safety.
Campbell-Langford explained during the assembly that she was very careful in going out to the dog, making sure the large tree was sturdy and checking the dog’s reactions before scooping it from the water.
She believed it was imperative to get the dog out of the water rather than wait for animal control officers to arrive.
“I could see the poor thing was shaking and knew it was in trouble,” Campbell-Langford said. “Instincts kicked in and I just had to do something. I think anyone would have tried to help.”
The dog was taken by animal control officers and reunited with its owners, aided by the animal having an implanted microchip in its neck, she said.
“Of course, we don’t encourage students to jump into a pond,” Montano said. “But the lesson here is that you do what you can do to help a fellow citizen who is in distress event if it is an animal.”