Therapy dogs have been used for decades to provide comfort and a sense of calm to people in hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions.

This week Glacier High School put a new spin on making finals week a little more bearable by bringing in therapy dogs to relax students during a stressful time.

Three dogs were provided by Compassionate K9 to bring canine comfort to Glacier students during two days of final exams.

The “Paws to De-Stress” is a service project of Operation Happiness, an upbeat student-driven program started this year by the French and Spanish clubs through a grant from the Kalispell Education Association.

There’s no doubt taking final tests can stress even the most prepared students. If scratching a friendly pooch behind the ears can foster a less stressful student body, we’re all for it.

Local hero still flying high

Jason Curtis is grounded for now, but we expect he will be flying high sometime in the future.

Curtis, Kalispell’s own all-star aviator, flew his final flight last week for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

He finished three years in the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon as a solo pilot for the elite air demonstration squadron. During those three years, Curtis participated in 147 air shows at 72 different locations, plus nine fly-overs for special events such as the Super Bowl.

Most of us in the Flathead remember Curtis from the 2014 air show at Glacier Park International Airport, where we were proud to watch one of our own screaming through the sky at the Mountain Madness Air Show.

Curtis may have landed, but his career still is airborne. He’s heading to Georgetown University to obtain a master’s degree, may be a State Department intern or White House fellow, and plans to work in an embassy as a foreign affairs specialist.

After that, the Flathead High School graduate has his sights set on flying the F-35.

The sky’s still the limit for Jason Curtis.