PLATTSBURGH -- Head Start teacher Elizabeth Bunker was doing her best to talk to her students, but a very rude puppy kept interrupting.

"Woof. Woof, woof!" the fluffy brown puppet cried, tugging at Bunker's hair, pushing at her arm.

Squirmy preschoolers grew still, all eyes on the puppy.

Giggles filled the cottage-like modular that houses one of two Head Start classes at Cumberland Head Elementary School.

"Excuse me, Puppy," the teacher said. "It's hard to talk when you're doing that."

Her furry friend calmed down.

"Thank you, Puppy," said Bunker, stroking the puppet with her free hand. "That's much better."

CALMING DOWN

Part of a program called Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum, used at all Joint Council for Economic Opportunity Head Start centers in Clinton and Franklin counties, the lesson goes beyond good manners.

"In order for the kids to really do any kind of learning, they have to have social, emotional skills down," said Michelle Boynton, Clinton County JCEO Head Start mental-health coordinator.

Second Step teaches empathy, coping skills, problem solving, even anger management.

"A lot of our center's teachers get the kids to do breathing exercises to regroup," Boynton said.

"Just to calm down their bodies and relax," said Bunker.

She employs that technique when her little charges are really upset, sometimes when they're crying.

A former Head Start teacher herself, Boynton would combine deep breathing with imagination, encouraging her students to picture themselves on a beach or in some other pleasant place.