What a great night Tuesday night.

 

How good was it to again meet Vanessa and meet Sally and cute little Baxter.

 

What a great program they are running.

 

The benefit to those year two students that are lucky enough to be selected could change their lives.

 

All of us at Bayside should be very proud that we support Story Dogs.

 

How cute is Baxter’s little jacket.

 

Who doesn’t like a cute puppy story.

STORY DOGS

Great presentation from Sally and Vanessa last Tuesday when the members met Baxter.

 

Bayside’s King Charles Spaniel Story Dog.

 

The Story Dog program started in NSW by 2 woman that felt there was a need for a program like this to help children read.

 

It is not funding by the government, so it is supported by volunteers and donations from people like us.

 

It started in Geelong in 2019 and today there is 33 teams in and around the city.

 

Vanessa, an ex-teacher, shared they have dog training and People training days.

 

One items on the agenda for Baxter before he started his work in the schools was, he had to learn how to walk past an open lunch box, now that is a hard task for any dog, but he passed with flying colours.

 

Baxter with Sally, also a retired teacher, visit Christ the King School in Newcomb where Baxter listens to the same 4 children read each week, he makes no judgment on the mistakes made or how slow the child is in learning.

 

It is a safe environment where mistakes don’t matter.

 

Does our $500 donation to the program make a difference?

 

You can read for yourself some of the successes that this program has on their website, https://www.storydogs.org.au/about-us and I would say, yes it does make a wonderful difference to those little people.

 

A fabulous project.

 

Thank you Telsa for suggesting we jump on board with this one, wonderful Community and Youth combined project., plus the ladies seemed to be very happy with their thank you gifts.