It's a charitable initiative that kicks butt. And inspires a lot of goat puns and b-a-a-d jokes.
Students at Hyde Park Public School on The Queensway in Barrie's south end made a deal with their principal as part of their goal.
If students could raise enough money for 50 goats for communities less fortunate, the principal and other staff members would ‘sleep’ with a herd of goats at the school the night of its community barbecue.
On Thursday night, the staffers really got their goat - 14 baby goats in fact in a pen outside the school.
"Here we are with the goats tonight and my pyjamas, which are being nibbled as we speak," said principal Kathy Whitely from inside the pen. "And this is just an example of what these kids can do for less fortunate families in the world."
The baby goats were symbolic of the 51 goats the students managed to collect over the year.
Hyde Park is a 'We' school that belongs to the Free The Children Organization and the goat-raiser was its annual initiative that gets students entered into draw for tickets to attend We Day.
There are 58 Free The Children students and the goat idea came from a group of grade eight girls who wanted to send three goats to a third world country for a pillar of sustainability.
Principal Whitely took it to the next level with the 50-goat challenge.
And once the community 'herd' about it, the idea was a real barn-burner.
The school installed a goat-o-metre in the front hall so everyone could follow the progress.
Parents bought goats for their children for Christmas. Teachers gave goats to their classes. Every Friday was Spirit Day where students could pay a quarter to dress up to raise money for goats.
One goat cost $50.
"A couple of weeks ago a family saw our goat-o-metre was only at 47 and walked in and paid for the last three goats for us," said grade 6 teacher Shannon LeBlanc, another proud staffer.
"They raised enough money and rose to the challenge and here we are in the goat pen in our pyjamas."
A local farmer brought the goats to the school so everyone could visualize the students' accomplishment.
Even the grade eight organizers were surprised at how the goats caught on.
"We're really amazed at what we've done. We're so proud of our school," said Emily Olic, 13.
"The goats will help three families get more sustainable. They'll use them for cheese and milk," said Peyton Novoa, 13.
"I think we'll probably be able to bring it to our new high school and maybe be able to share it with them so they can do it to."
It was fun way to draw attention to a serious issue and help families in Haiti where the goats will actually be purchased.
Principal Whitely earned a reputation as the goat punster during the year's morning announcements.
"Look at all my 'kids,'" she said was her favourite pun, while marvelling at her students' initiative. "This is incredble."
"It's been a very goat pun year here at school," laughed LeBlanc.
