Meet True Superheroes: Cole the Deaf Dog and Music Teacher Chris Hannah
Chris Hannah is a well-admired music elementary music teacher, but his world totally transformed the day he adopted a deaf dog he named Cole. Cole, a pit bull mix, was named the 2022 American Humane Therapy Dog winner -- the first deaf dog to earn this honor. Join us as Chris shares with Oh Behave Show host Arden Moore how he and Cole inspire kindness, compassion, inclusion and acceptance in students, military veterans and many more people. Tune in now!
Cole is a deaf pitbull pup, but he’s helping the world hear with their hearts! His message is simple and profound: a disability is not an inability, it's a superpower! Passed up by countless families at the South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter because he was deemed "broken," Cole started impacting lives with his message when he was adopted by a public school music teacher (Chris Hannah) in April of 2017. Cole amazed Chris with his keen ability to respond to sign language and seemingly endless capacity to show tenderness and love. Cole, along with Chris’ deaf nephew have taught children that it is ok to be different, helped students recover courage and self-respect, and inspired acts of kindness throughout the community. Cole now works, alongside his music teacher dad, every day at Dr. Mennies School and became the inspiration for launching a unique social-emotional learning program in the South Jersey school.
Cole’s message started inspiring many others as his story made national news publications and became the catalyst for the Team Cole Project, where Cole and Chris have presented school assemblies all over the Tri-State area. Their program helps students reflect on personal feelings of “brokenness” in a new and self-empowering way and leaves an impression of acceptance and compassion that youth can take with them for years to come. Outside of the classroom, in their first two years as a therapy dog program, The Team Cole Project has volunteered over 500 hours and received the Presidential Silver Service Award. Cole quickly became a beloved companion among the residents of the NJ Veterans Memorial Home, who unanimously petitioned for him to be named their Official Mascot. In August of 2020 the Team Cole Project did it’s first ever “Kindness Tour”, visiting care facilities throughout New Jersey to bring joy and hope during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Team Cole Project has been featured on the Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, 6ABC, PHL17, NBC, CBS, KYW News-Radio. Cole is also the first canine to win the Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Teacher award. Cole is also a hospice therapy dog with Angelic Health Palliative & Hospice Care and certified through Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, INC.
