It has been a very busy couple of weeks at NHCS. Our enrollment has increased by five “students”! At the weekly assembly on Friday, November 26, the students were excited to learn that the five new students coming to their school were not your typical kids. Three Pot-bellied pigs and two Nigerian dwarf goats would soon be making their appearance at NHCS. The students learned that their roles as students would have them engaging in hands-on animal husbandry. Our students would soon be divided into multi-grade chore teams and engage in daily animal care. The multi-grade chore teams consist of:
Supervising teacher- Barn Boss
Grade 5/6 student- Barn Manager
Grade 4 student- Assistant Barn Manager
Grade 3, 1/2, Kindergarten student- Barn Hands
Each student is responsible for bringing their class “slop” pail to feed to the pigs and ensuring there is enough food and water readily available.
The pigs, Maple, Hazelnut, and Penelope arrived on November 29 and happily burrowed into the fresh straw in their new barn. These three girls are relatively shy, but our students are eager to interact with them and make sure they are happy in their new home. Two of our pigs are six years old and one is eleven. They happily eat their vegetables and like to keep their space clean. The only problem that we have had with them is their tendency to sleep-in. So far, Maple, Hazelnut, and Penelope have been at the center of much of the excitement at NHCS. We have had families sign up to complete weekend chores with great enthusiasm. It has been a truly amazing experience to watch and listen to how the students at NHCS and their families have embraced our innovative approach to education.
The goats arrived at the school on December 9 and with their arrival came a whirlwind of excitement. It is pretty hard not to get excited over their cuteness. The black and white goat is 75% Nigerian Dwarf and 25% Toggenburg, although he comes from smaller stature parents and is likely to mature into a smaller sized adult goat. Our tricolour guy is 100% Nigerian dwarf and was less than one pound at birth! His mother is fully mature and weighs only 35 lbs. He is expected to be similar in size to her. Both goats are debudded (will not have horns) and are wethers (will not be stinky).
From Kindergarten to Grade six, the students were mulling over possible goat names and each student was able to enter the “Name That Goat” contest. Several creative names have been submitted and we are very excited to announce the selected names of Salt and Pepper.
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