It's a first for the Milwaukee Public School district: students showing sheep at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Five students took part in the inaugural program at Vincent High School.
Animal science teacher Monica Gahan came up with the idea.
"As I was going through teaching I thought, what is one thing I can do with these students that is really different?" she said.
The students got the sheep in May and they, under Gahan's guidance, have been working hard to get the sheep competition-ready.
"They learned about catching the sheep, haltering them, walking them, and how to build muscle," Gahan said.
Senior Deonte Rainey said that when it came time to compete he was nervous but the judge gave him good advice.
"The judge had said he was a nice size and had muscle to him but he just wasn't staying balanced like he should have. That was my only downside to it," said Rainey.
He took 10th place, but Rainey said he isn't stopping now, "I'm going to college in state so whenever I get a chance I'm going to come back and do this to get better at it."
Gahan is proud of her students especially because they are learning so much more than how to show sheep.
"We learn life lessons every day in my classroom," she said. "We learn about compassion and taking care of something besides yourselves and there's no price tag to put on that."
Thursday's competition involves showmanship so students will be judged on how they work with the animals.
Gahan hopes to recruit more students into the agricultural program. A student must be a member of the FFA and attend Vincent High School.
