Delaware Teacher Creates Puppy Therapy Program to Help First Graders with Their Reading

A teacher from Delaware proves that a good book goes perfectly with puppies!

Brooke Hughes, a first-grade teacher at Hanby Elementary School in Wilmington, started the Foster Tales Puppy program last year to help young students not only improve their reading skills, but also improve their mental health, according to Good morning America.

Local rescue dogs are brought into the classroom, giving children the opportunity to pet and pet the animals as they learn and go to school.

Hughes told the outlet that she first dreamed up the idea for a puppy therapy program when she began fostering dogs during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about all the amazing benefits that puppies could bring to an actual classroom,” she recalled. “It could bring so much support to mental health and reading, not just for students, but for staff as well.”

Inspired, she wrote a proposal to welcome dogs into the classroom and presented the idea to the administration of her school. In January 2023, Hughes — who has been teaching first grade at Hanby for 12 years — piloted her new program.

“[Hanby Principal Juliet Agresti] let me bring three puppies for a day to see how it went and it was amazing. He brought so much joy to the school,” she said GMA. “The puppies lifted everyone’s spirits and since then we haven’t had many days without puppies at our school.”

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So far, Hughes has worked with Rags 2 Riches Animal Rescue in almost Garnet Valley, Pa., to bring in more than 50 puppies, ranging in age from 6 to 12 months. She noted that rather than being a distraction, the dogs bring a “calming” influence to the classroom – and serve as a great incentive to encourage children to do their work effectively.

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“People think my classroom must be a zoo and chaos. But the dogs are actually very calming,” Hughes told GMA. “Our productivity has increased because [the students] they have to do all their work to have time for the puppy.”

To make the program possible, students and their parents sign up to care for the puppies on weekdays and weekends, and Rags 2 Riches generously covers the financial costs and provides all necessary animal care supplies. Usually, adopted puppies are adopted within a few weeks.

A picture of a child and a dog.

Getty

In just one year, Hughes is already seeing her students make significant progress in reading, thanks to their furry friends.

“We collect data on reading scores from fall to spring, compared to other years [where] we didn’t have puppies. And just from fall to winter, we noticed an increase of almost 32 percent,” she said GMAnoting that the gain can probably be attributed in large part to the overall additional reading practice students have.

“Because they’re eager — they want to read and they want to practice, and that will always increase results,” she added.

Hughes also said that even students who struggle with reading — and have been reluctant to pick up a book in the past — are now jumping at the chance to sit down and cuddle with a book and a puppy.

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“Even children who have reading difficulties… and they didn’t want to pick up a book and were frustrated, 1710017076 they can’t wait to read to the puppies,” she said GMA. “Puppies don’t care if you get stuck on words. Puppies don’t care if you try to read one word for five minutes. They’re just happy to sit on your lap. So, so much confidence has come from this program.”

And it’s not just college students who are experiencing the puppy perks, Hughes noted.

“I call it a win-win-win-win… the staff benefits because we love coming to school with the puppies, the students benefit from learning so many life skills, the puppies benefit because they come out of the shelter and we’ve loved them completely, and then the rescue has benefits because we’re freeing up another spot in the rescue service for another animal to save,” she said.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education