Baby Goats Visit MPES

Some visitors to Matthew Paterson Elementary School recently brought out the nurturing instinct in students from kindergarten through fourth grade, not to mention their teachers and administrators.  

Nearly everyone who got to see the three baby goats that visited from Ridge Ranch in Patterson started cooing.  

“Oh, they are so cute,” they cried. “Can we pet them?”  

The district’s Special Education PTO, or CCSD SEPTO, sponsored three goats this year at Ridge Ranch, an educational farm run by Arielle and Dan Honovich that specializes in “Animal Experiences.”   

The sponsorship means SEPTO will help pay for the goats’ feeding and care, and included the goats' visit to the school.   

“SEPTO kids sometimes have a hard time on field trips, so we brought the field trip to them,” said Jeanine Lopez, who is vice president of CCSD SEPTO and a paraprofessional in Diana McDermott’s third/fourth grade class.  

“Oooh, I just wanted to hold one,” said Joshua, one of McDermott’s students. “It was so cute I was about to cry.”    

The goats, each just two months old, aren’t named yet. It will be up to their sponsors to name them.  

“We just finished our animal unit in the reading program Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA),” said Jennifer Ryder, the kindergarten/first grade teacher. “The goats’ visit reinforces what we just learned.”   

In addition to the chance to see, pet and hold the goats in person, the classes will get updates on their goats every Friday. They will watch the goats on a webcam and check on their health and feeding habits.  At the end of December, each child will get a goat adoption certificate and plush toy goat, courtesy of The Black Cat Boutique.