Aidan Curtis
STORY Dogs Mount Gambier is set to reach even more students in the area, with Suttontown Primary School getting ready to welcome volunteers for the first time.
Lindy Doman and her dog Ellie are ready to officially kick off their Story Dogs journey in the second school term and help students boost their reading and literacy skills.
Ms Doman said while she and Ellie have not been a part of Story Dogs before, they are eager to get started and give back to the community.
“I believe that giving back to the community and helping kids that need that help is exciting to be a part of,” she said.
“Ellie is very relaxed and laid back, so I believe she’ll just sit quietly with the kids, won’t annoy them, and will be quite happy to doze while they’re reading to her.
“I hope we enjoy it as much as the other ladies do.”
While the Story Dogs team already has dogs in a number of schools around Mount Gambier/Berrin, they plan to continue growing and reach even more students.
Diane O’Leary and her dog Lexi, who volunteered with Story Dogs before Covid, have been training to get back into schools and resume their volunteer work.
“It’s a lovely thing you can volunteer for where your dog is not left at home, so that’s what thrills me about it,” Ms O’Leary said.
“And I love reading, so let’s encourage kids to read.
“To me, it ticks all boxes – you’re volunteering, you’re helping somebody, you’ve got your dog with you and I love reading and encouraging people to read.”
Story Dogs Mount Gambier volunteer coordinator Helen Williams said the dogs have a “huge impact” on children and their confidence when it comes to reading.
“All the children in the school know the Story Dogs, whether they’re with the dog or they know of the dog in the school,” Ms Williams said.
“I think it gives a great boost to the children to know they’ve got a dog coming into the school.”
Ms Williams said the community could do their bit to keep Story Dogs going strong by encouraging schools to get on board or by sponsoring the dogs.
“It costs $500 to put a dog into a school, and that’s for the kit for the volunteer and the dog, all the reading material as well, we all have to have police checks, so there’s a lot of background that goes in there,” she said.
“If they can do that, that’s a huge help in raising the money involved in putting a Story Dog into a school, and we’d like to put more dogs into schools.
“It’s a huge thing if the schools can come on board to support us.”
People wanting to find out how they can get their local school involved in Story Dogs can visit https://www.storydogs.org.au/ for more information.
