WINDSOR High School agriculture students volunteer their time all year around to make sure the school’s goats are well-cared for and up to show quality, and at the weekend, 17 of them were at the Hawkesbury Show.
Their teacher, Liz Ruis, knows a thing or two about goats. She was the chief steward for the goats section at the show.
Ms Ruis said the students who volunteered to care for the goats gave up their time every morning and even in the school holidays to come into school and look after their herd.
“I have the show team. They are from year seven to year 12 and they all volunteer their spare time,” Ms Ruis said.
“They come in at 8am in the morning and they feed and milk the goats and they come in on the weekends and holidays too.
“It is just like work, they need to come in and do their farm duties.”
It is a labour of love according to Ms Ruis, who started at the school nearly two decades ago, and has shown goats at shows for a long time.
In that time, Ms Ruis and her students over the years have won countless awards, including at the Royal Easter Show for the goats they raise.
“It is really funny you can pick the kids that like being with the animals pretty quickly,” she said.
“They can't get enough. You can tell it is their thing. Other kids hate it, hate the smell don't like being around animals.”
Ms Ruis, who the week before was at the Royal Bathurst Show with her students, said the ones who took the goats to shows, loved talking about what they did.
“It is a great experience for the kids, that is why we really do the shows,” she said.
“I think it is just they do something they love, hanging out with animals.”
Ms Ruis said she got plenty out of it as well.
“I just love seeing them grow up and develop,” she said. “Caring for these animals takes team work. You need to be co-operative, you need to negotiate, they are all learning these skills they have never done before.”
As for the goats themselves, the school has a few different breeds.
Ms Ruis said they would be showing saanen, toggenburg, British alpine, anglo nubian, Australian melaan and Australian brown goats, while they had recently got some new La Mancha goats, which have no ears, and the Nigerian dwarf goats.
