Kids in the classroom — but not the human kind?
In most classrooms, teachers have to contend with the voices of many students.
But in Cape Henlopen High School agriscience teacher's Heather Valentine’s room, there’s added competition.
As Valentine was giving directions, Harper, a kid, was squealing.
That's a newborn goat, not a Cape Henlopen High School student.
The sound could be a distraction to instruction.
But in her classroom, it's typical. The lesson went on, uninterrupted.
"It’s sort of hectic and disorganized sometimes, but there is kind of organization in the disorganization," said Matthew Smyth, a sophomore in the room at the time.
Harper was getting a bath from two students in a nearby sink. She slept in her diaper the night before.
"She's fine," said senior Shannon McCall. "I promise."
It's just another day in Valentine's class.
It's no secret that agricultural is one of the main tenants of southern Delaware.
The land that makes up the state's 2,500 farms makes up for 39 percent of all land in the state, according to the National Association of Agricultural Educators. Delaware is ranked No. 1 in the percent of its lands that are farms preserved. Delaware is nationally ranked first in the value of agricultural products sold per farm, at $425,387.
Preparing kids for a career in agriculture starts at a young age. According to the NAAE, Delaware has 13 middle school agricultural education programs. Cape's is one of 25 high school programs in the state.
At the high school level, students are able to experience animal science firsthand through Cape's series of courses and a Future Farmers of America program designed to prepare them for a career in agriculture.
It's complemented by first-hand experience on a 10.5-acre farm at Valentine's home near Georgetown, where students get hands-on experience with animals — something a textbook simply cannot offer.
The animal science program at Cape has grown quite a bit since it was created in 1999. Valentine started teaching there when students were first able to take the classes, in 2000.
The need for this instruction comes from Valentine's belief that many students in today's society are disconnected from where there food comes from.
"Learning about this it can help you realize what animal science can do in the real world," McCall said. "It can show that because you eat three meals a day, you have to know where it comes from and what all this can do."
In Valentine's first year, she taught 10 students. Since then, demand has risen and become more diverse. At first it was primarily white males. Now more females have signed up for courses and the population is more diversified to reflect the school's population.
The program has expanded to three teachers — her, Ryan Ellis and Peter Olson — and classes are capped at 20 students. Each teacher instructs six classes. With some overlap, about 500 students take part in animal science classes at Cape, she said.
"We honestly could probably hire another teacher next year to support the numbers we have," she said.
In a recent classroom lesson, students in an intermediate level animal science class took part in a lesson on genetics and cross breeding. In an exercise, students had to choose two breeds of cows to produce offspring that would genetically engineer desired traits.
Taz, a 2-week old baby goat, was sitting comfortably on the lap of sophomore James Harrod, chewing on the zipper of Smyth's backpack.
What the infant goats do constantly amaze Smyth. He never had to worry about his backpack being damaged by a goat before.
"It's always something new," he said. "Every day."
The lesson will prove fortuitous for the students later on in the animal science track. When they progress to an advanced level class, they'll take what they've learned and apply it to the class farm. They'll decide which bucks breed with which does.
But what is taught in the classroom goes beyond the literal farm responsibilities. Valentine wants her students to be able to explain why the animals have a useful purpose to the agriculture community and defend their opinions on controversial issues.
"If a student can develop their own opinion and passion and can defend themselves and justify their ideas, to me, that's a win," she said.
In the same cluster of desks, sophomore Allison Yurchak was tending to Rumor, the goat she was paired up with by Valentine to foster.
Yurchak wants to study veterinary science in college and thought taking care of the goat would be a good opportunity.
Students who foster goats are responsible for taking care of it at all times. They take them home daily, and are responsible for making sure their animals are fed and introduced to hay. During the school day, arrangements are made with teachers and during their lunch schedule to take care of them.
Rumor doesn't disrupt Yurchak as she takes care of her schoolwork. She compared holding the goat to holding a dog while one is reading.
"The ones here, they act like dogs mostly because the people who take care of them have dogs so they learn behavioral traits from the dog," she said. "They end up pretty calm and used to humans."
When the weather is nice, the goats will go in an outdoor pen. Otherwise, they stay indoors.
"Welcome to baby day care," Valentine said.
Six or seven years into the animal science program, Valentine noticed students wanted to have their own livestock to show at the Delaware State Fair.
Valentine said they wanted to pick something small, such as sheep or goats. There was definite interest in goats at the time, she said. In 2009, the decision was made to get Nigerian dwarf goats from Massachusetts to start the school herd.
"If you can take care of an animal, then you’ve got some pretty good skills to go out into the world and be a successful citizen in society," she said.
The goats, at first, were housed at a family farm in Milton. The animals moved to Valentine's property near Georgetown in 2015. She and her husband purchased it the year before with the intention of hosting the school's livestock.
The farm now has about 30 goats, ranging in age from 4 weeks to 13 years in age.
Those who show goats are required to go to the farm weekly during the school year to milk the goats and take care of their specific goat's needs. Students come to the farm to work on weekends, spring break and in the summer.
The shows are essentially beauty pageants, Valentine said.
"This doesn't stop just because school stops," Valentine said. "We don't quit."
Preparations for shows start in early spring with a clipping of the goat's winter coat. As the students get ready for shows, they learn about the necessary particulars — the tail must look like a paintbrush. Hooves must be appropriately trimmed.
If the animal is sick or in distress, the students can take what they've learned in the classroom to help evaluate what is wrong what the diagnosis is.
This year, the students plan to present their animals at the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia state fairs. In September, as show season comes to a close, a judge will visit the farm to perform linear evaluations on the animals.
The purpose of the final evaluation is to indicate the longevity of that goat as a dairy animal. A higher score means it's more likely to last in the herd longer before its utters give out.
As students get older, they learn more tasks that they'll become responsible for. On a recent Wednesday, Valentine was teaching junior Isabella Porro how to milk a goat.
Taking care of the animals is something Porro finds to be a stress reliever. She enjoys having the responsibility.
"Most of society doesn't realize how important farming is and our agriculture," she said. "It seems like a big thing today is industrializing everything and farmers don’t really get enough recognition."
Right now, the milk gets fed to the babies. Once the babies wean off it and there's excess product — the goats produce about two gallons daily — students will use the milk to make soap and sell some of the product.
Valentine said the breed was chosen because it was a smaller breed that produces milk that is higher in protein and milk fat — two desirable characteristics for both cheese and soap making.
In addition to the goats, students collect, grade and scale eggs laid by 15 chickens and a dozen ducks on site. There also two horses and two miniature donkeys on the premises — the latter serve as guards who alert Valentine and others nearby if there's impending danger.
Plans are in the works to continue expanding the school's agriscience program in the near-term for the long haul. Valentine recently acquired turkeys for students to raise and sell for Thanksgiving. Ellis is working on setting up a second facility for students where they will be able to take care of cattle and pigs.
"It makes all of what we do in the school worth our time," McCall said.
The relationship Valentine has with her students is atypical at Cape.
Not many teachers get to have the same students for four years, but she does. She enjoys watching them grow and mature.
The relationships are the reward.
"I have been teaching for 16 years and I still have students from my first year that call me mom and come and visit," she said. "I don’t want to get rid of that."
It also means students get to know their teacher better.
"A lot of teachers have a problem where they only work in the 8-to-3 time zone and after that their job is done, they go home," Atsidis said. "(Valentine) never stops working. She is a 24-hour teacher. She's always there for us."
Students describe Valentine as charismatic and enjoy her sense of humor. After all, how many students can say they see their teacher running on a farm chasing misbehaving goats on a regular basis?
"It’s just really funny to watch her because with a lot of teachers, you don’t get that," said junior Amanda Moore. "You just see them at school and it’s not as fun as seeing her at home running around chasing things."
When Miles Silvagni started high school in Miami Beach, the thought of milking and clipping baby goats on a farm during his senior year never crossed his mind.
But a move to southern Delaware for his junior year gave him a new opportunity. A love for animals and a sense of curiosity made him sign up for the animal science courses.
He has enjoyed the opportunity.
"The whole energy is just fantastic," he said. "Just coming here and being able to interact with all the animals is really awesome."
While many of Valentine's students don't pursue careers in animal science after high school — including Silvagni, who plans on studying aviation engineering — some do. Senior Alexandra Atsidis plans on attending the University of Tennessee with the hopes of become an Army veterinarian. Senior Madison Moore plans to study agriculture business and livestock management at Delaware Technical Community College after graduation.
Other alumni include Ellis — a 2002 Cape graduate — along with others who have become animal science teachers and doctors of veterinary medicine. Two of them went into pharmaceuticals and help make and sell drugs for animals and humans.
Valentine said she's astonished and amazed to hear how she has made a difference in her students' lives to the point where they want to pursue a career in agriculture.
But those stories are what keep her going.
"It's those kind of things that go back to that question — why do you get up and why do you keep doing this 16 years later," she said. "It's because those are the results when I'm done."
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