For the past three semesters, Clancy Elementary School has had friendly canines roaming its halls. But the dogs aren’t there for the cafeteria food; they’re there to read! Or rather, to be read to.
The dogs are key players in the Reading Education Assistance Program (R.E.A.D), which Clancy Elementary has been offering to its third graders. R.E.A.D is a program offered free to schools through Intermountain Therapy Animals, a non-profit based in Salt Lake City, Utah with a branch in Helena. The idea: The four-legged animals can help kids get past the emotional barriers to literacy.
In the R.E.A.D program, a registered therapy dog and its owner volunteer as a team and encourage children in the designated classroom to read to the animal. The dogs are deployed specifically in schools to help young children — usually third graders — build their confidence and excitement for reading, as well as their reading fluency.
