Ivy Academy students Meigan Conley, left, and Isabella Pizzuto read to Blue during a visit to McKamey Animal Center. Both students weren’t just excited to read to the animals, but also about giving their gifts for the animals. Although they were only required to bring one, Pizzuto and Conley brought two toys apiece; one for the dogs and one for the cats at McKamey.
Bins of books donated to the center sit underneath the Christmas tree set up at McKamey. Many of the books were donated by the students and classes of St. Peter’s Episcopal School.What better way to spend a few hours of school than to go to an animal shelter and visit with dozens of adoptable dogs and cats?
That’s what Ivy Academy sixth-graders and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church third-graders got to do the week before Christmas break. And it wasn’t just the students who benefited. The students’ visit was part of McKamey Animal Center’s Paws to Read program, which has been shown to have mutual benefits for the pets and kids – beyond the Christmas gifts the children brought.
“It helps the animals’ socialization skills, which means they get adopted quicker,” Jim Watson, Ivy Academy’s coordinator for field trips and activities, said of the hour-long reading sessions. “On the students’ end, it helps them to read better. There’s no adult supervision or evaluation, so there’s no judgment if they make a mistake.”
Watson volunteers at McKamey, but initially heard of the program while working in other shelters across the country. He said one shelter in North Carolina saw adoptions skyrocket after students started coming to read to the animals on a regular basis.
“The kids are probably learning more than they would in a normal day because they’re having fun,” Watson added. “Any time the kids are having fun and learning, they’re going to retain it better.”