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Gleanntan Skyes
Participating in Public Education Events
Read Across America Guest Reader Visit - March 5, 2010
This morning, I made one
final guest reader visit to a local elementary school close to the
office. This was a smaller group of students which provided the
students with more one-on-one time with the Skyes. For this visit, I took Ch.
Gleanntan Givemebusybee! - Bea and the male puppy from
Glinda's litter, Gleanntan Gulliver's Travels - Roscoe.
After initial introductions, the kids sat in a semi-circle
around the Skyes. Roscoe made himself right at home, rolling over on
his back for his obligitory belly run. Like his father, Tony, Roscoe
also enjoys giving enthusiastic kisses. The kids found this very
amusing.
Read Across America Guest Reader Visit - March 3, 2010
This morning, Maida and
I had the privilege of serving as guest readers at a local
elementary school as part of the National Read Across America
Celebration. This annual event is held on the occasion of Dr. Seuss’
birthday and it is designed to inspire children and teens to read.
We have been participating in this event for the past five years.
The first two years we visited with just one Skye, Ch. Gleanntan
Grandxpose - “Emily”. Emily set the standard for high-quality,
gentle interactions with the kids. More recently, we’ve participated
with more than one Skye. This year, we decided to take Emily’s 5.5
year-old daughter, Ch. Gleanntan Givemebusybee! - “Bea” and
Ch. Gleanntan Glindathegoodwitch’s 5 month-old puppy, Gleanntan
The Goodbye Girl - “Lilly”.
We arrived at the school at 9 a.m. and noticed that all of the kids
and their teacher were dressed in pajamas. We learned that they were
having a pajama read-athon which is one of the activities of the
Read Across America Celebration.
Maida and I waited with Bea and Lilly outside of the classroom as
three 2nd grade classes were assembled. Shortly after we
entered the classroom and were introduced to the kids, one of the
students remarked that she remembered our visit two years ago with
Emily, Bea and Mackenzie - even remembering that those three Skyes
represented three generations. To think that this student remembered this
two years later was just amazing!
I provided a bit of background information on the Greyfrairs Bobby
story and then shared how the Greyfriars Bobby book was important in
our early introduction to the Skye Terrier. I then read Ruth Brown’s
beautifully illustrated children’s version of Greyfriars Bobby.
After finishing the book, I asked the children by a show of hands,
how many had watched dog shows on TV and almost every single child
enthusiastically raised his/her hand. One child noted that her
mother didn’t care for the shows, but she still tried to watch
because she enjoyed them so much.
The questions were excellent this year - "Are they related to the
Scottie and the Westie?"; What were they bred for? Do they shed? The
kids were very respectful and this made for a very positive outing
for the youngster, Lilly. Many of the children - boys and girls -
asked if they could hold Lilly on their laps. I stayed close to
Lilly during this period and occasionally talked to her to remind
her that all was OK.
We could not have asked for a better visit. Our Read Across America
classroom visits give the kids a brief glimpse into responsible dog
ownership and how responsibly bred and well-socialized dogs can be
good canine citizens. The visit hopefully inspired the kids to read
more about dogs in general.
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