WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU PUT A SECONDARY SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER AND A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER TOGETHER ON STAGE? YOU GET SHEPPARTON’S VERY OWN CHILDREN’S ENTERTAINERS. MOVE OVER, WIGGLES!
Tricia Bagg and Jackie Monk are teachers who have formed the theatrical duo, Monkey Baggles.
“We’re children’s entertainers with an emphasis on giving young people the opportunity to have access to the arts and learning through the arts,” Tricia said.
“Our shows are closely related to the Victorian curriculum to help young people develop their literacy and numeracy.”
The name Monkey Baggles is a play on the duo’s nicknames — Jackie is ‘Monkey’ and Tricia is ‘Baggles’.
Tricia works at Greater Shepparton Secondary College as a music teacher and Jackie works at Katamatite Kindergarten as an early childhood educator.
“We have the benefit of me knowing what kinds of things we're looking for in secondary students and then taking that right back to the beginning (with) her expertise on how to deliver that,” Tricia said.
They’ve been friends for about 15 years, meeting through the Shepparton Theatre Arts Group.
They were brought together by a shared passion of using the arts to teach young people when Riverlinks Eastbank reached out to Tricia about putting on some performances for the ‘Cushion Concerts’ for kinder kids.
"And we just sort of really clicked and we found it came really easily to us and we love doing it,“ Tricia said.
“We've put together a series of concerts and we're just approaching kindergartens and daycare centres.”
You can contact Monkey Baggles by phone on 0428 855 075 or email at: monkeybaggles@gmail.com