SitStayRead

SitStayRead's mission is to to advance children’s literacy skills using an engaging curriculum, dedicated volunteers and certified dogs. Founded in 2003, SitStayRead is the leading dog-assisted literacy organization in the United Stated that bridges the achievement gap in low-income Chicago Public Schools and local community centers by our teams of volunteers and Certified Reading Assistance Dogs.

With teams of both human and canine volunteers, we go into the classroom, during the school day, with our innovative and engaging curriculum focused on increasing students literacy skills. Our volunteers engage students in different reading and writing activities to not only build students' literacy skills, but to also build their confidence in their ability to read and write and to make it fun!

Our program goes into first, second, and third grades in 17 different Chicago Public Schools all throughout the school year. During an hour-long SitStayRead session, students will work with their human volunteers (Book Buddies) on different reading and writing activities, and will get a chance to visit with our Dog Teams (human + owned-Certified Reading Assistance Dog) to get to read out loud to our non-judgmental canine friends, certified through SitStayRead to be in the classroom.

Please feel free to reach out to SitStayRead with any comments, questions, or to learn about our volunteer opportunities via email at volunteer@sitstayread.org.