Growing Up With Roxy
Roxy™ Therapy Dogs volunteers’ hearts go pitter-pat when a teenager or young adult says to them, “Oh! I had your Roxy dog in my class in elementary school.”
Bonds That Form Over the Grades
That’s how memorable Roxy dogs are for so many children in the Central Bucks School District. Students form attachments to their Roxy dogs in class, reading to them once a week throughout the school year. At the same time, the students’ reading skills and confidence are boosted, while their stress hormones go down. The pairing produces magical results.
If a child is lucky enough to have the same Roxy dog over the years, even stronger bonds form.
Case In Point
Pictured above is Aquil with his Roxy dog, Atticus, whose handler is Kerry Wargo. The image shows Aquil and Atticus together in both third grade and now in sixth grade.
You can tell that the friendship they share has stood the test of time as each grows older and even more fond of the other.
Volunteers Over The Years.
Atticus, a standard poodle, and Kerry have volunteered for Roxy since 2017.
“Atticus and I visit 9 classes per week, including 1st through 5th grades, reading support, and emotional support classes. We also visit the high schools for stress management class presentations, Roxy club meetings, and events.”
You can tell by the smiles that Atticus is reducing stress for these high school students.
More than 40 volunteers have been with Roxy for five years or more, including Kerry. Roxy orients, supports, and thanks our volunteers so that they come back year after year to improve the lives of school-aged children in our community.
We are thankful for Kerry, Atticus, and our 80+ other dog/handler teams that make Roxy such a wonderful organization.
