The Longfellow Elementary Kindergarten class hosted Salida community members over the past week that reflect characters in the books they have been reading. The elementary school has a phonics program called Superkids, which uses 13 kids and one dog to help students learn their letters and sounds.
Officer Coscarella explaining how Sarge likes to smell, just like their Superkids dog. Image courtesy of Anna Johnson.
To finish off the year they asked three community members that relate to these characters, to come and visit the kindergarten students.
On May 24, Sarah Gartzman, from Sweeties and Baker and Biker, came to talk to the class about being a real cook.
On May 25 Paralympic swimmer, Sophie Herzog came to speak to the class. Herzog spoke to the students about what it is like to be an athlete.
The last superhero to visit was canine patrol officer “Sarge” and his handler Salida Police Officer Alec Coscarella, who came to visit the class on May 26.
The children who relate to the Superkids character Golly, the Superkids dog, were enthralled by the visit. Golly loves to sniff, and so does Sarge. The visit introduced the kids to Sarge, and helped them understand how Sarge can use his nose to help our community.
According to Kindergarten teacher, Anna Johnson, “The kids loved Sarge, and Alec did a wonderful job explaining what Sarge does. Alec explained that Sarge loves to smell, just like our Superkids dog Golly.”
“His example was that we may smell a cake, but Sarge smells every ingredient in the cake. He explained how dogs noses are able to smell so much more than we can,” said Johnson.
“He talked about how Sarge has to train every day, which is like [the dog’s] school. He works really hard so he can play with his ball (his favorite toy). We related this back to the students working really hard so they get to go to recess,” she added.
“The kids got to pet Sarge if they wanted to, which almost all did, and was a highlight for many of the kids. Alec and Sarge did a wonderful job and we can’t wait to have them visit again,” added Johnson.
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