The Highlander A MENAGERIE OF ANIMALS AT HIGHLAND ACADEMY
By: Eliayna Burnett
For the past four years, our dedicated team has been running the equestrian program here at Highland Academy. They add unique experiences to our campus, such as a petting zoo for Fall Festival this year, and horsemanship classes for all grades. The equestrian program was initially presented by Eric Johnson, VP of Development at the time, who suggested it to Sara Bagshaw, our current equestrian director. Together, they created our equestrian program that has added a few goats and sheep this summer. The equestrian program has a few student workers: Mia Gomez, Lily Tonn, Georgia Beckworth, Tessa Wade, Cassie Sutton, Aiden Naumann and CB Bagshaw. “In the afternoons, we usually take care of the ducks, goats, sheep and horses. We water plants, take care of the horses and ride. Other responsibilities also include checking the fences, feeding and watering all the animals,” said Sutton, sophomore and one of the equestrian workers.
Recently, Highland Academy has had a few new additions to its arsenal of animals: six ducklings, baby goats and sheep this fall and winter. The ducklings have been living in the grounds building until they were old enough to be outdoors. One day, Sara Bagshaw went to the store to get goat feed and returned with six ducklings, partially donated by Mrs. Nikki Sutton, Cassie Sutton’s mother, who works for Tractor Supply here in Portland. As of September 1 of this year, the ducklings are about four weeks old. They don’t have names, but the equestrian staff are open to suggestions. Feel free to throw some ideas to Sara Bagshaw or any other workers. With the arrival of these ducklings, the crew of students and Ms. Bagshaw started to build a duck house to float in the pond. The duck house took about three days to build, and the morning and afternoon workers worked on it for four hours daily. The first attempt did not stay connected to its anchor, but after the second attempt, the duck house was ready and made its way into the pond with the help of Aiden Naumann and CB Bagshaw wading in the water to find its permanent home. Alaska (AKA Chaos) being the youngest of the horses on campus continues to get trained and has been set up with her own pasture along with a another horse away from the other 14 horses from Indian Creek Camp. Here they will continue the training and getting used to people and the other horses. The goats are due to have babies around September or early October. The sheep are due in January, however, Wilson, our ram, is relatively young, so we may not have any lambs this time. It's a busy time for the equestrian workers, but it is worth it to make this campus a more well-rounded and diverse educational space. If you love animals, this is the place to be! Animal update: As of September 22, we have 2 sibling baby goats named Ollie and Otis with 14 more on their way! Make your way up to the pasture area to see these sweet babies! Editor In-Chief Magdalen Carlson Reporters Helena Cortelli Eliayna Burnett Reuel Jabali Evan Parris Danielle Caldwell Cartoon Art Design Joash Alvarez
Design & Art Director Tristan Naumann Photographer Malachi Armantrout Miguel Bittencourt Sponsors Stephanie Rufo Melissa Weisner
What should we name the Ducks?
In each edition of The Highlander we will have a hidden Highland Cow for you to find. Be the 1st person to come to Mrs. Rufo and you will receive a Small Sonic Slushes page 8