Jennifer Yauck kissed Boo, a 7-year-old Nigerian dwarf goat, in the Oglethorpe County High School cafeteria Friday afternoon while hundreds of students cheered her on.
Friday also happened to be Yauck’s birthday, creating a one-of-a-kind birthday celebration.
“I just kissed her on, I guess, whatever you would call the snout. I'm not on my goat anatomy these days,” said Yauck, an AP and honors biology teacher at OCHS. “And it wasn’t a big deal. She was a very clean goat as goats go.”
And perhaps strangely, Yauck was the winner in this situation.
OCHS’ FFA chapter brainstormed this method of celebration to mark National FFA week, Feb. 3-7.
The goat belonged to Alie Duffell, a senior at OCHS and president of the FFA chapter. Boo is one of Duffell’s 37 goats from her grandparent’s farm, and her snack of choice — dried penne pasta — kept her calm and content throughout her time at the high school.
“We had done it in middle school one time with her, and I just mentioned it back in the summer when we were making plans, and we decided that we were just gonna try it again,” Duffell said. “They just vote for teachers with money, and then they’re gonna donate it to a charity, and it’s been pretty successful.”
The fundraiser raised $112 total. Yauck, who has been teaching at OCHS for six years, became the clear frontrunner when a student put $100 in her jar Monday, bringing her total to $103.
Yauck donated her winnings to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a nonprofit organization that donates books to children under 5, regardless of family financial status.
“When they put out the call that the money raised by this competition would go to your charity of your choice, that was the reason I signed up for it,” Yauck said. “One hundred percent of the money will go to the children in our county since it was locally donated.”
Yauck is a member of the Gamma Tau chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, a society of female educators. The Gamma Tau chapter, which includes members from Oglethorpe and Wilkes counties, works to increase literacy in student populations, partnering as the local affiliate for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
“In the past, there’s always been a need that officers voted on, but they felt that it’ll be fair for the winner that kisses the goat to also be able to help decide where those funds go,” FFA adviser Jordan Paul said.