It's 9:15 a.m. at Doylestown's Gayman Elementary School. A small group of 2nd and 3rd-graders is sitting in a nest of gaily colored pillows. While one reads, the others listen. Seems pretty routine except that one of the participants is a tad more noticeable, having gotten all dressed up for school today. Original Roxy, the embroidered bandana around her neck reads, Therapy Dog with Roxy Reading.
Behind every good dog is someone special holding on to a leash. In a chair behind the six-year-old Boykin spaniel sits Roxy's human/handler Diane Smith, founder and president of the Doylestown-based Roxy Reading, Inc., a non-profit organization that brings dogs and their "persons" into lower-grade classrooms, helping students find the confidence and ease to read. "For the kids, having a dog here not only turns reading into something pleasant but school into something to look forward to," Smith says.
Every day, according to Smith, there's at least one team making their once-a-week visit to 15 elementary schools in the Central Bucks County School District. Established in 2005, the program's mission is to meet the needs of all students, whether in mainstream classrooms or in special-learning/special-needs environments. In one class, Smith recalls, teachers were desperate to have a blind-and-deaf student respond to anything. When the child finally did connect, it was with the whiskers of a golden retriever. "These dogs are conduits," Smith says. "So many children, no matter what their level or ability, will find ways to express them-selves they never would with a teacher."
Smith, who left a career in sales, became interested in canine therapy when she saw the effect a therapy dog had on her grand-mother, who was in a nursing home, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The memory lingered as she and her husband raised a son and daughter. And then one day, one could say, there came a convergence after a spaniel walked or, rather, squatted into her life.
"First, I met Roxy's sister at a cocktail party," Smith says with a laugh. "This little dog came up and sat on my feet while everyone was milling around." She fell in love with the ball of brown fur, contacted the breeder and soon brought home a puppy they named Roxy. It didn't take long for Smith to put two and two together, which now equals 46 teams of handlers and dogs. All dogs must first be certified as an emotional-therapy dog; then the team meets with an experienced Roxy Reading volunteer. After completing an orientation process, the pair is ready for their first day of school. Roxy Reading's current roster of canine volunteers includes Petra, an Akita; the Chihuahua team of Mimi and Walter; and Billy "the Leaner," a German shepherd with a fondness for listing his 100-pound frame against the nearest pair of legs, then closing his eyes. When he settles on his all-fours, the kids use him as couch.
At Gayman, Brian, whose reading has jumped 9 levels since September, according to his teacher, narrates "Firefighters" to Kerry and Tricia, who feathers the cinnamon-tipped tuft atop Roxy's head while she listens. Down the hall, Ellie's voice is full of animation as she pages through "The Hungry Giant" to her reading partner, Jack - and to Grace, a "little lion" Lowchen, who's lying on her back with her feet in the air, tethered to her handler, Cecile Balizet.
Gayman learning-support teacher Sandi Bergstresser has seen students go from barely engaging with a few scattered words on a page to the smooth enunciation of grade-level narratives. And 1st-grade teacher Dianne Weller marvels at the progress many of her students are making so early. "The difference is confidence," she says. "They're not afraid a dog will tell them they're not doing well."
Gayman principal Brian Finger beams when speaking of the success and popularity of Roxy Reading in his school. "The dogs have become part of the day. They're in many of the class pictures," he says. And in Smith's home, there may be a picture or two or 20, in addition to the countless gifts students have sent as thanks to Roxy. "And the letters!" Smith says. "My favorite is from a child who wrote, ‘I think I like your owner, too. Please keep her around.'"
For those interested in volunteering or making a donation to the program, go onat roxyreading.org for more information.