School ball funded by dog biscuits

Five Goldfields School senior students have made and sold dog treats this year to raise funds for the school ball.
Teacher Anna Walters told The Profile the project was part of the school’s young enterprise scheme which involved its senior students developing a business idea for when they leave school.
“We’ve done [dog treats] for a few years and it’s a really good way to keep the students cooking and it’s a healthy treat and most of our young people and whanau have animals,” she said.
“The money that we raise from it goes towards the school camp which is held every two years and for our school ball this year which is for the students over 16.”
Anna couldn’t say how many dog treats had been sold but said students continuing to make more would suggest “quite a lot” had been sold.
“You can always smell the dog biscuits on a Thursday in the staff room, they actually smell really nice and they’re actually edible for humans,” she said.
Teacher Todd Robinson, who led the five students in the dog treats production, said they were made from ingredients such as oats and peanut butter and were baked before being kneaded and cut with cookie cutters.
Anna said the school ball was set to be held on November 10 at Falls Retreat in Waikino, and hoped dog treats would continue to be sold up until the date.
“The ball is just a fun, nice, sit down meal, all the students get dressed up and there’s a disco and they absolutely love it, and the local businesses support us really well,” she said.
Anna said the remaining funds from the dog treat sales would go towards the school camp set to be held next year. “The school camp is certainly a massive financial intake so we’re looking at raising lots and lots of money… last year we went to Waihī Beach and the year before we went to Rotorua,” she said. “It’s always been popular and perhaps what a lot of people don’t seem to realise is that a lot of our students don’t go away for weekends or nights very often so for them to go and have a sleepover with their mates is massive.” The dog treats cost $3 a bag or $10 for four bags.
Contact todd@gfs.school.nz for orders and enquiries.