Community Education
Humane Education
Every week, APL dogs and their human volunteers go to area elementary schools. They help students practice their oral reading skills in a friendly and non-judgmental way. Dogs and their handlers sit in the library and students come to them, one at a time, for about 10 minutes each. The reading program, in its third year, has been very popular and successful.
We have requests from additional schools that are interested in introducing the "APL Paws to Read" program. We need more volunteers to take APL dogs to school. It’s a great outing for our dogs, and very beneficial to the students.
If you would like additional information, just let us know and the coordinator of the program will contact you.
Paws To Read Program
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As part of the APL Paws to Read program, volunteers take shelter dogs to Springfield area schools for the students to read to the dogs. There are currently two groups who visit classrooms at two different schools. The dog handler picks up an assigned dog at the shelter, transports it in his/her car to the school, and sits with the dog in a library-type setting. The children come to you one at a time and read aloud for about 10 minutes each.
Your "job" requires you to see that the dog and reader are comfortable with each other, and offer minimal assistance to the reader.
Speaker Presentations
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Is your civic, church, or community group interested in knowing more about APL’s life-saving work in Springfield, Sangamon County, and Central Illinois? We’d be happy to send a speaker. Just ask!
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