Students are encouraged to read to Rudy, with the idea that they can read aloud to someone who is listening, but not have to worry about being criticized or rushed.

Students write stories about Rudy, who they say is their friend. Students are more motivated to write about Rudy than to write about anything else, Craib said, and even students from first and second grades come back to write with him.

“Not too many parents hang papers on the refrigerator anymore,” Craib said, stating that students write stories for Rudy to hang in his cage.

Mondello said he has covered stories all over the world, from Venezuela to Cuba to Miami, Fla.

He was drawn to the rural, 1,500-population town because he saw a positive story about a program that had made significant impact. He hoped to bring the idea to other communities in the country.

“This is something that works,” Mondello said. “We see a lot of news of terrible things in the world.”

He added, “We’re always looking for stories that make people think, ‘gee, I didn’t know that.’ “

Craib was all smiles Thursday, talking nonstop about the wonders Rudy has done for her classroom. She said she hoped that all the publicity would encourage other schools to start similar programs.

“They really think he (Rudy) is reading, and learning the kindergarten way,” Craib said.

A cameraman for SAD 17 was also taping the visit, and someone from the school was snapping photos.

“It’s crazy, we’re a little town in Maine,” she said of the national attention.

The kids were very well-behaved through the excitement, but Rudy was a little jittery.

He did sit still through story time, and “counted” to 10 with the rest of the class for the camera. When the students sat around the table, describing Rudy with pictures and words, he trotted in circles around the table, watching red pencils scribble back and forth.

The class wrote a story together about Rudy to accompany a sketch Craib drew of Rudy at the beach. Mondello crouched down with his camera as Craib encouraged the kids to come up with the right descriptive words.

“I like Rudy. Rudy is a dog. He is brown. I love him because he’s a good friend. I like Rudy because I read to him,” the story read.