By MATTHEW RALPH
A goat named T-Bone was the center of attention in a makeshift petting zone set up in Nancy Riekhof’s third grade class at Slate Run Elementary School Friday.
“They earned it,” Riekhof said as her students crowded around petting T-Bone in his makeshift pen of plastic fencing and cardboard. “I told them if they raised enough money to buy a goat we would get a goat to come visit.”
Inspired by “Beatrice’s Goat,” a true story about a girl in Africa who is able to go to school from the money she makes selling milk from a donated goat, the students started raising money to buy a goat through Heifer International in March.
The girl who inspired the story, written by Page McBrier, made it out of poverty in Uganda to attend prep school in the U.S. and get a college scholarship all thanks to a goat she received from Heifer. The charitable organization enables groups and individuals to donate livestock to families in developing countries as a means to fight poverty and hunger.
“We wanted to do the same thing,” said 9-year-old Gabrielle Getty.
Riekhof’s students were able to raise enough money — $260 — to “purchase” two goats and a couple chickens for families in need.
“I just thought goats were farm animals you could get milk and cheese from,” said 9-year-old Jena Fath as she waited her turn to pet T-Bone. “I didn’t know a goat could do so much.”
Like many of her classmates, Fath was wearing a purposely mismatched outfit to keep with the school’s “Wacky Day” theme.
Fath said she and some of her classmates also thought about dressing the goat up in wacky clothes.
Wacky clothes or not, many of the kids were excited about the goat — who lives on a farm in Corydon — and the attention it drew to their classroom all afternoon.
“I just want to squeeze him he’s so cute,” said 8-year-old Adrielle Lock.
The class also got to eat goat cheese for a snack.
Beyond just the fun and the wackiness of having a goat come to school, the makeshift petting zoo taught a valuable life lesson, Riekhof said.
“They’ve been able to see that as kids they can do something as simple as raise money for a goat and make a real difference,” Riehkof said.
