Melanie Riley
STORY Dogs Mount Gambier is wagging its tail with joy welcoming five new volunteers to their local team.
The new volunteers have added to the five existing teams, including Story Dogs Mount Gambier volunteer coordinator Helen Williams with dog Maggie.
Ms Williams was ecstatic to be able to welcome the new volunteers and their furry friends, Karen Kennedy with Jesse James, Lesley Okholm with Frankie, Olivia Slattery with Maisy, Sue Mittiga with Porsha and Jess Mortensen with Bell.
In addition, three new schools have also come on board the Story Dog program, including Moorak Primary School, Newbery Park Primary School in Millicent and Nangwarry Primary School.
Ms Williams was excited to welcome the new schools, and couldn’t wait to start seeing the benefit for more children in the area.
“I think it’s absolutely fantastic, because the children just love the dogs,” Ms Williams said.
She shared a success story from a previous student, and said being able to see this change in the students is rewarding.
“One of the children I worked with last year had little name tags around their neck and they couldn’t express their feelings, so they’d show a picture of how they were feeling,” Ms Williams said.
“I probably only saw that twice, and that disappeared.
“The child couldn’t make eye contact, but through the dog, that came.
“We’ve got the time with them, so they really blossom.”
Ms Williams said the volunteers are there simply to make the experience more enjoyable for the children.
“The children we have aren’t always struggling to read, some of them are very good readers,” she said.
“It’s not for us to judge – the child may have been chosen because there could be illness in the family, there could be family break up, we don’t know.
“We put the trust in the teacher to place the child, and then we work from there.”
Story Dog groups are made up of four children, and there is an option for a one-off “reward student” backup if a child is sick or away.
“They feel pretty special and when we take the reward students – they get picked for a special reason,” Ms Williams said.
Ms Williams had high hopes in the expansion of Story Dogs across the region, and encouraged anybody willing to volunteer to get in touch.
“I’m trying to expand the volunteers, which we’ve already done by five and we also want to expand into other schools,” Ms Williams said.
“We want to open up Penola, Naracoorte, Keith, Padthaway, but we need people to come forward from those areas.
“It’s important for those smaller rural areas to be able to tap into the Story Dogs program, because they miss out.
“Just to see the difference in these children – it’s remarkable.”
She said they are hoping to bridge the gaps between Mount Gambier and smaller rural areas, and offer the same advantages of the Story Dog programs in those schools.
“This could be absolutely magic for those areas.”
Volunteers should be experienced handlers, know how to handle their dog and what to do in the event of a confrontation, and have two hours availability per week.
Ms Williams said the importance of limiting the work to two hours is beneficial not only for the students and volunteers, but for the dog too.
“Our dogs are not allowed to work for more than two hours, because it’s mentally draining for them.”
“We have to look after the welfare of the dog, and our dogs are paramount.”
Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to contact Helen Williams on 0428 281 876.
