Goat Show Research Paper

Opportunity, something that every child should have. In the town of Starke, Fl, the community comes to see the kids show off their animals at the fair but, not every kid has that opportunity to show an animal. The Special Olympics Goat Show (SOGS) gives the ESE kids that are at Bradford Middle/High School the opportunity to show a goat. The first step in the process of showing a goat is taking care of the goat, with the SOGS program each child is paired with a goat that is donated from a local farm, Sunshine Acres in Starke, Fl donated 30 goats for these ESE kids. A week before the fair, each child selects their goat to be shown. The owner of Sunshine Acres, Mrs. Bobbie Acevedo, who has been raising goats for 16 years and has her own child who is ESE, said “The experience of showing a goat has brightened my son's life, being able to go out everyday to something that is his own and that he can bond with has made him learn to be gentle with not only animals but other kids and he has learned responsibility.” The goal with the program is to teach these kids skills that they can not find in a classroom environment where staffing is short and schools do not have the funding to teach them what is …show more content…
An ESE kid was interviewed and all he could say was “this is the best day of my life” What other people do not understand is that these ESE kids make the things we would only see as good as great. Hailey McElhenny, lifetime FFA member and worked close with ESE kids stated “I watched the ESE kids at the high school everyday smile and laugh at my pictures and videos of my livestock. The pictures and videos are of everyday actions of my livestock but to the kids it meant the world. To know that I left even the slightest impact of their day or life is something I will cherish forever.” The word happiness seems too small for something that means so much for these