At Ogden Elementary School in Valley Stream, reading goes to the therapy dog

One good reason for second- and third-graders to skip their recess time would be a dog coming to visit their classroom.

Bubba, a Hungarian Puli therapy dog visited Ogden Elementary School in Valley Stream on March 21. The students read a page of a chosen book to Bubba during recess.

Second and third grade reading teacher Maggie Schroeder said the idea for having a therapy dog visit the school began roughly a year ago. “For some reason, the plans were stalled, but we finally got the ball rolling on it recently,” Schroeder said. “I believe that it helps the students read better when the dog is in their company.”

She noted that her and fellow second and third grade reading teacher, Susette Preziosi were persistent in their quest to have a therapy dog visit the school. Preziosi discussed the benefits of having Bubba in the classroom. “We’ve known about other districts who’ve used this same program and the benefits highlighted in studies have shown how effective this is for the students,” Preziosi said. “I discussed it with our school’s social worker and together as a team, we decided to give this a try.” Bubba’s first visit to Ogden was on March 7.

Principal Dr. Dina Anzalone agreed with Preziosi on the benefits of having children read to a therapy dog. “Some students have anxiety while reading in front of adults,” Anzalone said. “Having a dog like Bubba around will give the students more motivation and less anxiety to read out loud in class.”

Bubba comes from Bideawee, which is a not-for-profit organization that has been adopting pets since 1906. Bideawee also has a pet therapy program which trains their handlers and pets to visit nursing homes, hospitals and schools. Bubba’s handler is Wantagh resident JoAnn Egry and she has had him since he was five months old. He will be eight in May. “Bubba was trained to be able to handle places with narrow spaces such as elevators and be okay with having many people around them,” she said. “His training took about five weeks to complete.”

Bubba has become a veteran of children reading to him as OES is Bubba’s fourth school he has visited in the past three years. “He’s been to schools in Massapequa, Garden City and Levittown,” Egry said. “He’s such a calm dog and he loves children. That’s what makes him a great therapy dog.”

Egry noted the impact that Bubba has had in the past on students and their reading abilities. “One of the schools Bubba used to go to, there was a boy who would never read in class,” she said. “When Bubba was in his classroom, he started petting him and eventually started reading out loud.”

Besides helping the children read, another reason for Bubba being at Ogden is to teach the children on how to properly interact and treat animals. “Another part of this program is teaching kids to be kind to animals,” Preziosi said. “Some students don’t have pets at home, so this is a great opportunity for them to get the chance to interact with one.”

The plan is for Bubba to visit OES twice a month, which on average will be once every two weeks. So far, he’s only visited with the second- and third- graders, but the hope is for the program to eventually expand to the fourth and fifth grades.