“Learning with Lucky,” a reading program for first-graders, has been brought to Valley View Elementary School courtesy of Forest Capital Partners.

Students, with the help of their puppies, will learn to BARK, which stands for “Be A Reading Kid.”

“Forest Capital Partners is proud to sponsor the Learning with  Lucky program at Valley View Elementary here in Bonners Ferry,” said Ed Moe who works for the company.  “Forest Capital contributes to the communities in which we operate in various ways, from donating firewood for auctions, purchasing livestock at county fairs, supporting local Junior Miss Scholarship Programs, and sponsoring Little League teams, just to name a few.  The opportunity to help our community’s first- graders in their efforts to enhance their reading skills is something we are proud to be associated with, and hope this is the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.”   

The program got its start from Camie Popiel and Jody Azevedo of Post Falls, who were trying to figure out how to create an incentive for students to want to read.

“I had heard about a reading program in Spokane, where the kids read to a real live dog,” Popiel said.  I don’t have time for a real dog so we came up with the idea of the stuffed puppies.”

Learning with Lucky provides students with a stuffed black or yellow Labrador Retriever puppy. Students are required to read to their puppies, which are left in the classroom.  The students  by reading to their puppies earn points.  When they get a certain number of points, they can earn a name, a collar and even a sleepover with their puppy.  The more they read, the more points they earn, and then the more privileges the students get with their puppies.

According to Popiel, the puppies in the classroom help curb behavior problems.  For example, if the child is misbehaving, then the puppy cannot come out to read. 

Students are given the opportunity to take  their puppies to the school nurse for a check-up.  This teaches the child how to take care of a real puppy and makes the child more comfortable if they need to see the school nurse.

The program has been proven to  increase Idaho Reading Indicator scores an average of 32 percent.

Students will be sending e-mails to Moe, letting him know how they are doing in the program.

“It is a great thing. The kids are very excited about it and it makes you smile just looking at their reaction,” said Moe. “I Look forward to getting e-mails from them.”

The Learning with Lucky program began in 2005 in Coeur d’Alene.  It is offered to first-graders in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland, West Bonner, St. Maries School, Kellogg, Mullan and Dayton, Wash., school districts.