Burke was responsible for all aspects of dog-handling — feeding, grooming, obedience training, etc.

“When Brittany began to work with Dakota, I began to see a real change; they bonded,” Massey said.

At the completion of her alternative school campus placement, Burke returned to the Central Middle School campus and continued her turnaround. Since then she has maintained high grades, and has become an avid journalism student and photographer.

Burke has dreams of becoming a photojournalist — a career that might have been derailed had she not changed her life’s course.

Burnett said students who appear in his courtroom because they are in trouble are not necessarily bad kids — they have just made poor choices.

Burke’s name will appear on a plaque with other students who turned their lives around.

The plaque is often shown to troubled students to encourage then that they can do things differently and get on the right track, Burnett said.

“There are lots of good stories on this plaque, and we appreciate everything positive that you are doing now Brittany to turn your life around,” Burnett said.

Contact this reporter at skoonce@panews.com