How a Stuffed Dog Named Herald Is Inspiring the Next Generation of News Readers in Middle Georgia
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
In Dublin, Tuesday mornings look a little different at the local elementary
schools. That’s when Kyle Dominy, a reporter with The Courier Herald, walks through the door with a stack of newspapers, a practiced enthusiasm for letters and words, and a small stuffed hound dog named “Herald” tucked under his arm.
The response from second graders is about what you’d expect: immediate, total chaos.
“They were all over that dog,” Dominy said. “They’re almost fighting, trying to get their hands on him.”
Local second graders voted to name the canine mascot themselves — a touch of civic participation that fits neatly with what the program is trying to teach.
As part of The Courier Herald’s recently launched Kids Corner program, Dominy visits classrooms in the Laurens County School System every week to read aloud, talk about what newspapers do, and hand out copies of The Courier Herald – giving kids what might be one of their first real encounters with local journalism.
The program has already reached nearly every elementary school in the area, and a one-year sponsorship from the Chamber Community Foundation has given it stable footing to keep going. Dominy brought the idea to a school literacy coach and a member of the Dublin City Council, who also serves on the Chamber Community Foundation board of directors.
“It was kind of a selfish idea,” Dominy said. “I was looking for a way to volunteer and make the paper a more active part of the community. When my kids were younger, reading to them was my favorite part of the day, and if residents aren’t strong readers, then what future does The Courier Herald have?”
The project has been embraced by the newspaper’s staff, with fellow-reporter Payton Towns III and advertising director Connie Adams assisting with classroom visits. Graphic designer Alicia Morales even illustrated Herald the Hound for a coloring challenge.
The classroom visits go deeper than a show-and-tell. Dominy walks students through the anatomy of a newspaper — the difference between informative writing, opinion writing, and entertainment — and runs low-stakes games to get kids scanning the page for words and local landmarks. What he found surprised him.
“What they know already, it blew my mind,” he said. “I didn’t expect these kids to even have a grasp of that at all, and they do.”
That instinct is backed by timing. In Georgia, the transition from second to third grade is when literacy milestones are formally assessed for the first time, making The Courier Herald’s target audience not just strategically smart, but genuinely impactful.
Kids can also submit their own writing, drawings and poems for possible publication in the paper’s new Kids Corner — giving young readers a reason to see themselves as contributors, not just consumers.
Dominy puts it simply: He wants the students to feel what he felt as a kid, when he flipped through the comics, worked on the puzzles and delighted in finding his name in the pages.
Herald the Hound is helping make that happen, one Tuesday morning at a time.
