As part of their focus on community engagement, Year 11 Personal Development Skills students
visited Bendigo Animal Relief Centre (BARC) to find out about the community service it provides and the role volunteers play within the organisation.
Senior Animal Attendant, Ben Radford, spoke about the important role BARC plays by providing animals with a safe environment and supporting them to be rehomed.
Retiree, Deb, who volunteers at BARC for about 3 hours every day, spoke to the students about how enjoyable and rewarding her role is.
Students met the cats, played with the kittens and hung out with some dogs that are available for adoption.
Teacher, Mardi Holland, said there was a lively discussion on the way back to school about the need for a class pet.
“We needed to check the students’ coat pockets as we left to ensure no animals were coming back on the bus with us,” she said with a laugh.
Huge thanks to Ben, Deb and BARC, who put the classroom learning into practice.
