This year, Delta High School has a new idea to help students who feel really stressed or sad. A lot of kids have bad days because of tests, sports, drama with friends, or stuff going on at home. The school counselors wanted something that could help students calm down and feel better, so the school has decided to hire a trained emotional support panther.

The panther is huge with shiny, black fur and bright, yellow eyes. It is also really calm and gentle. It stays in a quiet room near the counseling office where students can go when they feel upset.

The weirdest part about the panther is its special ability. When a student walks in crying, the panther will make soft, sad noises, and little tears will fall from its eyes. But the tears are not normal tears. When they hit the floor, they turned into cookies.

Yes, actual cookies. Sometimes they are chocolate chip cookies, sometimes sugar cookies, and sometimes peanut butter cookies. The cookies are warm like they just came out of an oven. Nobody at school understands how it works. Some students joke that the panther was secretly magical. 

Mady Fenimore, a student at Delta High, expressed, “I was just talking to the panther about how I would love a peanut butter cookie and how it would make me feel so much better, and it seriously cried out a cookie! An actual cookie!”

Soon, everyone at school will hear about the cookie-crying panther. When someone has a terrible day, that student can go sit with the panther. The panther will sit quietly, listen, and sometimes cry cookies for the sad student.

Teachers noticed students seemed a little happier and less stressed. Kelly Johnson, a teacher at Delta High, had noticed her students becoming a little happier and had stated, “Every day in the morning, my 1st hour comes to school, and instead of sleepy and grumpy, they have big smiles on their faces and look like they are loving life.”

The panther is quickly becoming one of the most loved things at the school. Even on normal days, students like stopping by just to sit near the giant animal. And somehow, a big emotional support panther that cries cookies makes school feel a little better for everyone.