A therapy dog and life-sized fiberglass cow took centre stage this morning as Kirste and Morro took the Brekky show to Mindarie Primary School for the station’s fortnightly Free Coffee Friday.
 
The school’s dog, a female beagle named Maxie, greeted the kids as they entered school and helped support and comfort them.
 
“She helps our students with alleviating anxieties, so if they’re anxious about something that’s happened at school (the students) come up to the office and they’ll give Maxie a bit of a pat and go for a walk with her,” said Deputy Principal Rebecca Appleton.
 
“She’s also a literacy dog. We’ve got a reading program at our school and she listens to reluctant readers read each day.”
 
Keeping with the animal theme, the school brought out “Milkshake” — a cow donned in the school’s faction colours — which is used as an educational tool for the kids to learn about local dairy farming.
 
West Coast Eagles mascot Rick the Rock was on hand to entertain the students while they took part in a footy clinic, and teachers and parents indulged in free coffee and donuts thanks to friend of 98five, ice cream van man Paul.
  
The show caught with up YouthCARE chaplain Shirley Pyrc, School Physical Education teacher Dustin Burns and Year 6 teacher Megan Clarke who championed Robo Soccer — the school’s science, technology, engineering and maths program.
 
“We program them (the robots) using sensors to play soccer,” Mrs Clarke said.
 
“We competed in Robo Cup Junior for the first time this year. There are three competitions: dance, soccer and rescue, which is an obstacle course based challenge.”