POTTSVILLE, Pa. — Dogs from around Schuylkill County paid a visit to the Trinity Episcopal Church's annual reading camp in Pottsville. The week-long program is dedicated to helping elementary students in the area feel more confident about their reading skills.
“We've noticed that children have had a significant lag when it comes to their reading scores. So we feel as an outreach ministry of the church and a service to the community, this was an area where we could help because we have teachers and retired teachers in our congregation,” Barbara Tokarz, reading camp coordinator, said.
Instead of making this camp feel like summer school, volunteers brought in some furry friends. And all of them are "work dogs."
“I learned about how these different companies have people going out with dogs like fire dogs, police dogs,” elementary student Gabriel Sedella said.
“In addition, we've had additional dogs come in during the week so the children can read to them. Because a lot of children who are not really good readers feel self-conscious when reading to people, not when reading to dogs. Because the dog won't correct them or criticize them,” Tokarz said.
It's a habit these students can get on board with.
“It's really fun, it gives me somewhere to go every single day. And it's fun because we get to read books and stuff and play games,” sisters Samantha and Ariella Meronbil said.
“I read to my dog every night because it makes my dog fall asleep,” elementary student Brooke Sell said.
Volunteers hope the students continue their daily reading routines beyond this camp.
“We're definitely not going to solve all of their reading problems in a week's time. But I do see that the kids are starting to relax, that they're starting to get back into a structure because after a while all of that goes out the window and they just forget,” said Tokarz.
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