A 3-year-old Labradoodle named “Remi” is encouraging students at Northside Child Development Center to become better at speaking.

Remi’s owner, Lorren Hickman, said the certified therapy dog visits her speech/language students at the Niles school a couple times a week.

Remi, she said, “works for hugs and kisses.”

“We’ve been seeing some nice improvement with kids who have been having some difficulty,” said Hickman, whose job as a speech therapist at Northside is to help students overcome speech and language challenges.

How does Remi help?

Hickman’s students get to play with Remi or walk him in the hallway if they accomplish a speech goal.

She also uses Remi while working on language tasks, like identifying and pronouncing body parts such as ears and eyes.

This is the first year Northside has used the help of a therapy dog.

“It’s been a really rewarding experience because the kids are even more motivated to do well with their speech, sounds, sentences and their words — especially when Remi comes,” Hickman said.

Northside students agree.

“I like to walk him,” said kindergartener Ma’Kylah Park.

“I like to read with him,” said kindergartener Christina Robles.

Remi is also used to reward good behavior.

“If a teacher has a goal of sitting nicely during a session and the students sit nicely, I will come for a visit,” she said.

Hickman also uses Remi to teach kids pet politeness, such as gentle petting and asking an owner if you can pet their dog before doing so.

“We are really grateful that Niles has welcomed Remi and been able to see how much of a benefit he is to the students, so we are really appreciative,” Hickman said.

Hickman pitched the idea of using a therapy dog to Northside principal Zech Hoyt, who thought it was a great idea.

He plans to use Remi as long as he can.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Hoyt. “That dog helps our kids tremendously and is a great addition to our team.”