Pat the Dog Youth focuses on preparing the next generations of artists in Waterloo Region. This unique Youth Unit focuses on Story Creation for performance. Members are from high-schools across Waterloo Region and meet weekly Tuesday evenings from January – June 2026. It’s a place of joyful noise and curious collaborations where our young creators are encouraged to take “big swings” and artistic risk. Most of all it’s a place of possibility for young creators to work with established professionals to develop their voice and talents, make connections, discover skills, and take their first steps on a journey of creation and presentation. Through generous support from City of Waterloo, Waterloo Region Community Foundation and Ontario Arts Council, there is no fee charged to participants in Pat the Dog Youth. This allows barrier free access for all young people of high-school age in Waterloo Region, which is an important determinant of this essential program.

Pat the Dog Youth focuses on preparing the next generations of artists in Waterloo Region. This unique Youth Unit focuses on Story Creation for performance. Members are from high-schools across Waterloo Region and meet weekly Tuesday evenings from January – June 2026. It’s a place of joyful noise and curious collaborations where our young creators are encouraged to take “big swings” and artistic risk. Most of all it’s a place of possibility for young creators to work with established professionals to develop their voice and talents, make connections, discover skills, and take their first steps on a journey of creation and presentation. Through generous support from City of Waterloo, Waterloo Region Community Foundation and Ontario Arts Council, there is no fee charged to participants in Pat the Dog Youth. This allows barrier free access for all young people of high-school age in Waterloo Region, which is an important determinant of this essential program.

Pat the Dog Youth focuses on preparing the next generations of artists in Waterloo Region. This unique Youth Unit focuses on Story Creation for performance. Members are from high-schools across Waterloo Region and meet weekly Tuesday evenings from January – June 2026. It’s a place of joyful noise and curious collaborations where our young creators are encouraged to take “big swings” and artistic risk. Most of all it’s a place of possibility for young creators to work with established professionals to develop their voice and talents, make connections, discover skills, and take their first steps on a journey of creation and presentation. Through generous support from City of Waterloo, Waterloo Region Community Foundation and Ontario Arts Council, there is no fee charged to participants in Pat the Dog Youth. This allows barrier free access for all young people of high-school age in Waterloo Region, which is an important determinant of this essential program.

Pat the Dog Youth program 2025-2026

Applications now open for high school students in Waterloo Region for 2026-2027

  • Build community and connections, develop writing craft, create new work for presentation with support from professional writers
  • Weekly meetings, Tuesdays 7-9pm, starting mid-September, running until early May
  • No cost to join and participate

To apply:

email youth@patthedog.org and include

  • name, age, grade (in 2026-2027), parent contact
  • why you want to be part of Pat the Dog Youth and what stories you want to tell (150-200 words)
  • 1-2 of your favourite books, movies, TV shows

There are a limited number of spaces for this program. Admission decisions will be based on factors including group dynamics, artistic interests, and range of experiences. Decisions will not be based on previous training, so we encourage applications from all backgrounds and experiences.

Our Facilitators

Pat the Dog Youth is facilitated by Amy Neufeld. Amy is an award-winning theatre educator with over 25 years experience teaching youth. She has written for CBC’s The Irrelevant Show, and is a TYA playwright. Her play Witches in the Woods received a professional production at Femme Folks Fest in 2023 and at the Tamarack Festival in 2024. After studying acting and musical theatre and spending several years working as a professional actor, Amy went on to co-found Lightning Banjo Productions where she serves as Artistic Director. She is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, performs comedy, and runs the local humour writing group Punch Up. And yes, she wants to see a picture of your pet.

Sam Mercury is the assistant facilitator of the Pat the Dog Youth. Having grown up in Kitchener, she is excited to share her passion for storytelling with the next generation of creators in the Waterloo Region. After graduating from the University of Waterloo’s Theatre and Performance program in 2018, Sam has lent her acting talents to shows such as The Vagina Monologues (Green Light Arts), You Can Do It Put Your Mask Into It (Potato Potato-Toronto Fringe), Play This: Street (Tottering Biped Theatre), and we could be (Green Light Arts). Her first original full-length play mixed(er) is set to have its world premiere in September 2026.

Pat the Dog Youth is made possible through the generous support of our funders.