Page 13 - FIS World

About our readers’ best friends
Name: Bella Heath
Age: 34*
Nationality: American
Breed: Pug and Beagle mix Bella knows only one trick. She will stand on her back legs when adressed as ‘Pretty Girl.’
Name: Frida Mellor
Age: 72*
Nationality: Mexican
Breed: Dalmation
Frida was quite ill when her adopted family found her, but is now a healthy and happy family member who loves being read to and taking road-trips.
Name: Jonesy Boggs Missbach Age: 77*
Nationality: American
Breed: Pug
Jonesy likes to pretend he’s a grumpy old man, but is really a lovable, furry cuddle-pug.
Name: Lady Kelly
Age: 45*
Nationality: German
Breed: Cavapoo (Spaniel and Poodle mix)
Lady is a sweet and clever dog, but known best for her exceptional good looks and teddy bear-like soft hair.
Name: Mowgli Lundvall
Age: 29*
Nationality: German
Breed: Bichon Havanese Mowgli is the youngest of the reading pack. Besides her family and being read to, Mowgli loves her soft Santa Claus doll and eating parma ham.
Name: Sara Mihm Age: 59* Nationality: German Breed: Poodle
Sara is a tall and elegant poodle who is at her hairdresser, Flotte Locke, when not being read to or cuddling with her family.
Name: Xeva Junius
Age: 69*
Nationality: German
Breed: Dachshund
Xeva loves to travel, and her adopted mom, Roswitha, estimates that Xeva has taken over 100 ights, most of them trans-Atlantic.
* all ages represented in human years, of course
All seven of the selected dogs are well behaved, and share in common the qualities of warmth, cheerfulness and motivation. Beyond those characteristics, they are a very diversi ed pack – from 29-year-old (in human years, of course) Mowgli, a Bichon Havanese born in Germany; to 77-year-old Jonesy Boggs, a Pug and Beagle mix from America; to 72-year-old Frida, a Dalmatian who was rescued in Mexico as a puppy – just as one would expect in an international community.
Freja, a Grade 3 student from Denmark, clearly enjoys the program, and one of the dogs, Lady, too. “I want to take Lady home with me,” she said. Freja’s mother, Mette Rasmussen, said the program has had a positive impact on her daughter’s reading. “Freja really enjoys it. It has made a di erence. Freja now enjoys reading.” Freja’s teacher, Elizabeth Ashley, is a strong advocate of the program as well. “I have noticed a real change in Freja’s con dence in reading and also her improvement,” said Ms. Ashley.
Enya’s mother, Sabine Koopmann, who is Head of the German Department in the Elementary School, has supported Enya since the beginning, and continues to help Ms. Darling and Enya manage the program. She is proud of Enya for what she has created, and emphasized how signi cant Enya’s scienti c data was in taking her Exhibition idea from paper to real life. Dr. Koopmann said, “I originally thought it was only a cute idea, but Enya dug up scienti c data in her Exhibition that proved the bene ts of the program.”
Ms. Darling said she plans to conduct an evaluation of the program by gathering her own data about the program at FIS to determine how best to proceed next school year.
It’s safe to assume that if Lady and Freja are asked their opinions about the program, they will say “Ru , Ru !” and “It’s great!”
Emmett Kelly FIS Parent
Enya Crowley with dog trainer Mr. Gerold Günther and Sara
May 2017 FIS World 11