Mitchell and Molly Gray: Raise a Reader Event

This week, ELCO Cares will be featuring Mitchell and Molly Gray, who are siblings at ELCO High School. Mitchell is a senior this year, and Molly is a junior. Mitchell and Molly helped out at the United Way Raise a Reader Theme Night at Jackson Elementary recently. They helped the students and parents to pick out books to read to the therapy dogs that came to the theme night, as well as reading books and interacting with the students while they listened to the story and were petting the dogs. They also assisted with crafts that included a puppy bookmark for the children to take home.

When asked about what they learned from their experience, Mitchell and Molly stated, “We learned that reading books at an early age is so important. We also learned that therapy dogs are a fun and interesting way for kids to enjoy reading. It was so rewarding interacting with the students and watching their smiles as they enjoyed the books that we read to them and we loved watching them hug and pet the dogs. It was so fun to watch kids be unplugged and enjoy reading actual books and interacting with us, their parents, and other students. We both aspire to be teachers and this was a great experience to help solidify the career path we would like to take. We look forward to helping with more United Way Raise a Reader Nights in the future.”

Thank you Mitchell and Molly for your volunteer work and for making a positive impact on children in our community!