Last school year, agriculture teacher Samuel Lawrence and Dean Greg Miller were talking about how agriculture in Fishers was being taught. Miller then jokingly made a comment about what Lawrence is teaching the kids: “What are you teaching these kids? A bunch of goat yoga?” Lawrence then responded back with, “We can do that. I know people that have goats.” What began as a comment about agriculture classes at Fishers High School has now turned into an actual event: annual goat yoga.

On May 6, 18 teachers showed up for this event. Spanish teacher Stephanie Gutting was one of those teachers. 

“I loved goat yoga. It’s one of the best days of the school year,” Gutting said. 

For Gutting, goat yoga is a different vibe than regular yoga but still relaxing nonetheless. She loves “cuddling little critters while having a good laugh with friends and colleagues” while also stretching her body and mind. This year, English teacher Erin Domokos enjoyed goat yoga in a similar, yet different sense. 

“It was something very different than I normally get to do as a teacher, it was really neat to do that with my peers,” Domokos said. 

Domokos believed goat yoga would be a “good opportunity” to spend time with her coworkers. She also mentioned that she couldn’t say no to baby animals. Freshman Zoe Haemmerle, who was a volunteer during the event, said something similar.

“I personally really love animals. I love being around animals and especially baby goats,” Haemmerle said.

Haemmerle’s role was making sure the goats stayed in the room, and she helped clean up the messes the goats made. The reason why helping with goat yoga was appealing to Haemmerle was because of her appreciation for her teachers and the agriculture twist that came along with the event. Freshman Addie Holtsclaw, who was also a volunteer, stated something along those same lines. 

“Just knowing how fragile the tiny little goats were and seeing all the teachers, their giant smiles on their faces, knowing that this was probably the highlight of their day, definitely made me want to be there,” Holtsclaw said.

Holtsclaw enjoyed helping out, saying it was “an amazing experience” and that she “would love to do it again.” 

“The goats were so cute, and I definitely wanted to just help with [goat yoga] because having the opportunity to play with goats every day is not something that just [pops up] out of the blue,” Holtsclaw said.

Future Farmers of America (FFA), a student-led club at FHS, helped organize and run this event for teachers to enjoy. Some teachers, like Gutting, were very appreciative of the club for hosting the event. 

“Thank you so much to FFA for hosting this and especially to Mr. Lawrence,” Gutting said. “It is a treat to have students put this on for us, and we are very thankful.”