This is What’s Trending Today…
Diana Bloom from the American state of Virginia posted a photo on Twitter last week that is getting a lot of attention right now. It has thousands of likes and re-tweets.
The photo shows one page of her high school yearbook.
In the United States, high schools and universities put out a yearbook at the end of each school year. The book is a way to remember the school year.
Yearbooks usually have photos of all the students, teachers and staff members. They include photos of sports teams, clubs, special events and other important moments.
Alpha, a dog, appeared in the Stafford High yearbook.
Often, when a person grows up to be famous, their yearbook photos are used to show they were once a normal high school student.
But the Stafford High School yearbook is already special. It includes the photo of Alpha Schalk.
Why is the photo getting so much attention?
Alpha Schalk is a dog.
Alpha belongs to Stafford High student Andrew Schalk. Alpha helps Andrew remember to take medicine for a disease called diabetes. People with Type 1 diabetes do not process the sugar they consume like everyone else. They must take medicine every day to control the amount of sugar in their blood.
Alpha helps Andrew remember to take his medication, sometimes waking him up at night. Alpha goes to school with Andrew each day, and all the other students enjoy seeing him.
Schalk told Buzzfeed “it brightens people’s days seeing him.”
When it came time to take photos for the yearbook, it seemed natural to take a photo of Alpha, too. After all, the dog has his own school identification card.
Andrew said the photographer lowered the camera for the dog.
“He has been a great companion,” Andrew said.
Dog lovers are calling Alpha’s yearbook photo “cute,” and “precious.”
One person wrote “this made my whole day.”
And That’s What’s Trending Today.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on a report by Buzzfeed. Hai Do was the editor.
What do you think of the dog in the yearbook? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on WWW.VOA-STORY.COM
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Words in This Story
club – n. a group of people who meet to participate in an activity (such as a sport or hobby)
companion – n. a person or animal you spend time with or enjoy being with
cute – adj. having a pleasing and usually youthful appearance
precious – adj. having a very pleasing and usually youthful appearance or quality (similar to cute)