Que member Pam Nankivell (left) and President Jeanine Boland (right) presented a $4,000 cheque to Collette Genet-Marks and Michelle Jelbart from Parkes Early Childhood Centre (PECC) for their hearing and speech program.
The Parkes Early Childhood Centre’s Collette Genet-Marks and Michelle Jelbart were as delighted to come along to Que Club’s recent meeting as were the members to have them there. Collette updated us on how PECC works to develop the confidence, social skills, listening ability, imagination and more of the children by loving care and play, so that when they begin school, they are ready to fly.
Michelle, who is the director of hearing and speech, outlined what she does testing every child for hearing and speech defects and guiding parents to professional help. While all newborns in Australia are hearing tested before they leave hospital, many young children get middle ear infections which can affect their hearing and speech. If these are not picked up by parents or teachers, they start way behind at school and may never catch up.
The Parkes Que Club has in recent years donated special sound field systems to classrooms in the Parkes Shire to aid hearing impaired children and their teachers, and has subsidid PECC’s program annually.
If you would like to ‘Join the Que’ or find out more about our work, follow us on Facebook or ring Pam on 0407 894 498.
By Pam Nankivell