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Dogs Lend a Paw in Kids’ Literacy Skills

When 10-year-old Leo logs on to his weekly Zoom call with Brooke Helburn, he doesn’t waste time on small talk. After an enthusiastic “Hi!” he cracks open his copy of Beverly Cleary’s classic Ribsy and, once Helburn reminds him where they left off the previous week, starts reading. “He’s all business,” she says, laughing.

To the uninitiated, this may sound like an average Zoom tutoring session, but it’s not. Helburn’s not a tutor, and Leo knows he is free to just let loose and read, whether he gets the words right or not. But the presence of Helburn’s two dogs, Jelly and Rowdy, on the Zoom screen makes it very clear that these sessions are a completely different animal.

This session, and others like it, are part of new program developed by A Fair Shake for Youth in response to the pandemic, in which kids in underserved schools throughout the city improve their literacy skills by reading to dogs. Approximately 45 children from 40 or so schools and an equal number of volunteers participate in the program through a partnership with the JCC, thanks to the efforts of Judy Gross, Director of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan’s Literacy and Math Program, and Audrey Hendler, a former JCC tutor who created A Fair Shake in 2010 and is its Executive Director.

Before starting A Fair Shake, Hendler worked in the prison system, teaching inmates to train puppies for work as guide and service dogs. “It was the most amazing thing I had ever done,” she says. “I watched inmates, many who were self-focused and shut off, develop self-esteem and empathy. I thought, ‘Why are we waiting until kids are grown up to help them build critical social and emotional skills from working with dogs?”’

Prior to the pandemic, both Gross and Hendler had seen the effect interacting with dogs could have on kids. Gross has brought dogs into the classrooms of underserved schools since she was named the Literacy and Math Program’s coordinator of volunteers in 2001. In 2010, A Fair Shake for Youth began bringing certified therapy dogs into underserved New York City-area middle schools for 10-week hands- on social emotional learning programs that reached about 500 kids each year. After COVID hit and classes moved online, an administrator at one of the schools told Hendler they had a student who wanted to read to a dog via Zoom. “Five minutes in,” she recalls, “we realized it was fantastic.”

Gross had already been speaking with the Department of Education about setting up virtual literacy tutoring for underserved kids, and invited Hendler to join her. In July 2020, the two paired their programs. The students worked with Gross’ tutors via Zoom four days a week, and on one of those days, followed with another one-on-one session, this time with a Fair Shake volunteer and their dog or dogs. For the readers and the volunteers, the benefits are many. Fair Shake volunteers aren’t tutors; their role is to listen and encourage. Hendler tells of one child who, before the Zoom calls, would cry when it was time to read. Now “he can’t wait to read with the dog.” The dogs are a friendly, calming presence, and nonjudgmental–they don’t ask the child to sound out words or correct them when they make mistakes.

Part of the fun comes from the dog’s “participation” in the calls. Volunteers bring dogs into the conversation by involving them in the story [“What do you think Jelly would do?” or “Don’t say the word ‘bath’ in front of Ozzie.”] Kids hold the book up to the screen for the dog to see, or ask if the dog does similar things as its fictional counterpart.

Each Zoom session runs about 20 to 30 minutes. Volunteers receive training on not only working with kids, but also setting up their spaces for Zoom success. When she works with Leo, for example, Helburn sits on the floor, with Jelly and Rowdy on the couch behind her, so all are visible, and makes sure the lighting allows for the optimal experience. When the dogs get a little restless, she surreptitiously gives them a treat. Sometimes the dogs fall asleep; Hendler says that’s called a bedtime story. Parents love the program as well and have shared anecdotes about kids reading to the family gerbil or rabbit, or even a plush friend. The Zoom aspect also allows Hendler and Gross to develop a relationship with parents that wasn’t possible while the kids were in school. ”The parents inspire me because they care so much,” Hendler says.

Hugo, a third-grader, reads with Elena Brody and her dogs, Oliver and Ozzie. His mother, Magdalena, noticed “big changes” in him after just a few sessions. “Elena is so amazing. You can tell that she really cares about Hugo,” she says. During the calls, “he’s smiling, jumping, standing in front of the computer. He’s got amazing confidence.”

And then, of course, there are the dogs, who get to hang out with their owner while enjoying a story about their favorite subject—themselves. All of the books the kids start out reading are about dogs, because, well, what else would dogs want to hear about? Favorites include Because of Winn Dixie, Go Dog Go, and Harry the Dirty Dog. Eventually they move on to other subjects. Despite having worked for years in underserved classrooms, Hendler and Gross were surprised when they realized many of the kids had no books at home. Gross helps find the books to match individual reading levels. Each reader is sent three books to start, and more are supplied as needed.

For Hugo, these books became treasured possessions. When his family was going to visit relatives, he packed only one thing, says his mother—the books in his beloved Dog Man series. Gross expects to have her tutors back in schools in person in Fall 2022, and Hendler hopes the two programs can once again pair, this time for in-person reading with dogs. (Her 10-week programs wlll start up again this spring.) But the return of on-site learning doesn’t mean an end to kids’ calls with their canine friends and volunteers, who are waiting for them when they get home. “We’re going to keep reading,” promises Hendler.

To learn how you can volunteer for A Fair Shake for Youth or the JCC’s Literacy and Math Program, email audrey@afairshakeforyouth.org or jgross@mmjccm.org.

Sherri Lerner is the former editorial director at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has written and edited for numerous publications and is currently on the staff of the Wechsler Center.