Running and jumping off the top of a rabbit hutch, a baby goat races through some impromptu parkour, three of his brothers soon following after, and then lets out a high-pitched bleat, as freshman Evie Gizzo and Assistant Principal Michael Gizzo look on with laughter.
Gizzo and his daughter worked with Julia Page Garceau, the advisor of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program to bring in four baby pygmy goats named Birria, Wobbles, Stink, and Duke into PHS’s chapter of FFA.
The baby goats are only a few weeks old, and must be fed twice daily with a bottle full of formula goat’s milk.
“They are very needy. They need to be fed a lot, but they are adorable,” Evie Gizzo said.
Gizzo and Page Garceau acquired the goats by chance, “There was a rancher who didn’t want them, so Mr. Gizzo and I decided to pick them up,” Page Garceau said. “I think it’s great, the more we can incorporate our agriculture classes the better,” Garceau said.
Evie Gizzo will raise the goats as her FFA project and is excited to watch them grow. “They’re my little orphans,” she said.
The goats also must be driven to and from school daily in Gizzo’s car in a crate in the back seat. This scenario often gets funny looks from passers-by as Gizzo drives them.
Baby pygmy goats are very friendly and are somewhat like dogs. Gizzo hopes they will become an informal mascot for the school’s FFA program, and intends to get the goats some Titan merch like customized blankets, collars, and leashes to sport around campus.
The goats will also be representatives of the FFA program. They will travel to school events and surrounding elementary and middle schools to educate younger students in the Poway Unified School District (PUSD) on the importance of Agriculture, hopefully inspiring them to take agriculture classes when they get to Poway High. Even Evie Gizzo got her start in FFA during middle school.
The older goats, Tito and Moose, will continue to live on campus and thrive under the FFA program. However, according to Gizzo, pygmy goats, like these four, are ideal for education and school spirit because of breed traits that make them more friendly and portable.
Because of their dependency on bottle feedings, they live with the Gizzos. “It’s like having babies again. It’s fun,” Mike Gizzo said.
Visiting the goats is allowed and encouraged during breaks as long as visitors remain respectful. Students just have to go to the FFA room and ask Page Garceau for permission first, then they can watch and interact with the goats.