Shandy in Clover

Have you noticed how much clover is blooming this year? The white is most common near us but I've seen pink and now some yellow is starting.

Shandy loves rolling in it, but that doesn't make for a great photo so we have to settle for this.

Meet our Newest Dog Teams

Sit Stay Read Dog Team Tests

Twelve new Dog Teams were certified at Sit Stay Read tests at The Anti-Cruelty Society this month!

On June 4th Blue, Diamond, Hobbes, Nala, Oscar, Piper, Pudge Bear, and Saffie earned their bandannas. While June 10th it was Ginger, Mia, Petey, and Sugar's turn. Click on the photo above to view the whole album.

Poem of the Month--Beach Glass

For Betsy--beach glass collector extraordinaire. Hope it inspires many walks on the beach.

Beach Glass
By Amy Clampitt

While you walk the water's edge,
turning over concepts
I can't envision, the honking buoy
serves notice that at any time
the wind may change,
the reef-bell clatters
its treble monotone, deaf as Cassandra
to any note but warning. The ocean,
cumbered by no business more urgent
than keeping open old accounts
that never balanced,
goes on shuffling its millenniums
of quartz, granite, and basalt.

It behaves
toward the permutations of novelty—
driftwood and shipwreck, last night's
beer cans, spilt oil, the coughed-up
residue of plastic—with random
impartiality, playing catch or tag
or touch-last like a terrier,
turning the same thing over and over,
over and over. For the ocean, nothing
is beneath consideration.

The houses
of so many mussels and periwinkles
have been abandoned here, it's hopeless
to know which to salvage. Instead
I keep a lookout for beach glass—
amber of Budweiser, chrysoprase
of Almaden and Gallo, lapis
by way of (no getting around it,
I'm afraid) Phillips'
Milk of Magnesia, with now and then a rare
translucent turquoise or blurred amethyst
of no known origin.

The process
goes on forever: they come from sand,
they go back to gravel,
along with the treasuries
of Murano, the buttressed
astonishments of Chartres,
which even now are readying
for being turned over and over as gravely
and gradually as an intellect
engaged in the hazardous
redefinition of structures
no one has yet looked at.

Littlest Doggie Reader

The adorable chihuahua in the box is Comisky and SSR program teacher, Nora Garcia, is his lucky owner.

Comisky was a big hit when he joined us for the teacher feedback meeting. Shandy was happy to welcome him to the office but it took some time for him to make friends. Treats were the secret to getting them together (BTW, he's much smaller than he appears in this photo--must be the angle).

Garden of Eden at Hendricks

That's me with Miss Alice last Wednesday at a wonderful urban oasis just southwest of Hendricks Academy (you can see the sign from the Hendricks parking lot).

Turns out one of the Hendricks teachers and her husband started this block-long nature center and plant a vegetable garden for the community every year. Bus loads of students from schools around the city come to visit and enjoy the peaceful setting.

Be sure to stop by next time you're in the neighborhood.

Five Years at Hendricks!

If it's Wednesday, Sit Stay Read must be at Hendricks. It's hard to believe but the 2007-08 school year marks five years of bringing reading fun to the students at Hendricks Academy! Wow, time really does fly.

At this Wednesday's Reading Rewards celebration nearly 75 kids received books and Reading Fun Packs to honor their independent reading (that's some of the students modeling their back packs while Tibbie and Seth look on). We also took this opportunity to present a plaque to school principal Ms. Smith to honor five years of partnership in literacy. That's Tida, SSR dog extraordinaire, looking on.

We're still busy celebrating and getting 220 Fun Packs into eager hands but as soon as we have a few moments to spare we'll post photos of more smiling faces from all the schools.

Dog Safety Ambassadors

As part of our new 4th grade pilot program at Hendricks Academy teacher, Jen Platz, had the opportunity to award three students the title of "Sit Stay Read Dog Safety Ambassador".

The winners were Josh, Tashun, and Kalvin. Both Tashun and Kalvin are familiar to Hendricks volunteers as they've been in SSR since second grade but Josh is new to the program. All three were excited to be chosen.

Using photos, dog puppets, and the SSR curriculum these students shared their knowledge of dog safety with the 1st grade class. As you can see from the big smile on this 1st grader practicing how to greet a dog, everyone had a great time learning how to be safe around dogs!