News from R.E.A.D. Headquarters

Our Tenth Year of Unleashing the Joys of Books and Reading

Source: ITA News Summer 2009

R.E.A.D. Celebrates 10th Anniversary All Year!

November 2008 marked the beginning of the tenth year of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs program.

It was on the first weekend of November, 1999 that fourteen Intermountain Therapy Animal teams participated in the very first R.E.A.D. session with children at the Salt Lake City Public Library. The rest, as they say is history, as the idea of children reading with dogs has spread around the world.

We are planning all kinds of fun for this year, culminating in the official Tenth Anniversary on November 14, 2009.

Source: January 2009 letter to R.E.A.D. Teams

ITA's R.E.A.D. Program Will Partner With PBS

It's the biggest news yet for the R.E.A.D. Program: PBS Television has named R.E.A.D. as a "national education outreach partner!"

This is happening in conjunction with the debut last September of their new animated series for children based on the Martha Speaks series of books by Susan Meddaugh.

We were first contacted in November of 2007 by the Educational Outreach group at WGBH in Boston (the station that does more than 30% of PBS programming). They had researched R.E.A.D. and were eager to partner with us. In the first season, we will need to have active R.E.A.D. teams in the 20 target communities around the nation, something we can easily do.

More details will be forthcoming early next year.

We are thrilled at the potential for nationwide recognition and credibility that the endorsement of PBS gives to R.E.A.D.

Source: ITA News December 2008

Cesar Millan Talks About R.E.A.D.

In his newest book, A Member of the Family, famed dog whisperer Cesar Millan mentions the R.E.A.D. program:

"I can't imagine raising kids without dogs in the household. It simple wouldn't occur to me. Reams of recent research continue to pour in, attesting to the many benefits of dog ownership for both adults and kids. For example, some programs help kids with reading disabilities by having them read to special Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.). The program creators noted that reading skills, including stuttering, improved," (pp. 258-259) and then points to our website so readers can get further information. Thanks, Cesar!