Norwood Elementary School had a “Pig Crisis” on Dec. 19, when a pregnant Penny the Pig, the leading lady of Norwood’s latest fundraiser, was fussy and refused to visit the school.

At the beginning of December, the Norwood PTA began raising money for the sixth grade class. This year the PTA came up with a new way of fundraising, pitting the teachers against one another and letting the students decide who they wanted to see kiss Penny the Pig in front of the whole school.

Jessica Moone, president of the Norwood PTA, said, “When the idea first came up, we all loved it. We thought it was a good way to raise money for the sixth-graders, but also keep the entire school involved and get at least a good laugh out of it.”

Aimee Simas, a friend of PTA member Kerri Bastien, owns a farm in Foster. A former Norwood Elementary student, Simas arranged to bring her pig Penny to the school to help out. With permission from Principal John Gannon, tiny containers, decorated as pigs, were put out in the office with all the teachers’ names on them. Students then got the chance to donate to the teacher they most wanted to see come up close and personal with the large potbellied pig.

Gannon said, “It’s for a good cause. I thought it was a great idea…As long as I didn’t have to kiss the pig. Some teachers thought the idea was hysterical, but there were others who were very nervous about possibly having to kiss a pig. I would see teachers come into the office and shake their jars to see how much money there was then comparing it to others.”

The day before the big assembly all the money had been counted. Teachers and students alike held their breath to hear who the “big winner” was. Fifth grade teacher Kurt Keaney’s name came over the loud speaker as the winner with $53.77 in his lovely pig jar. The next day he would come face to face with Penny.

Keaney said, “What can I say, it is for a good cause. I’ll do anything to help. I had these sixth graders last year and they are a really good group, they deserve it”.

On Friday, when Bastien walked in she brought the bad news – Penny wasn’t coming; Keaney would be stood up. As classes were being called down to the auditorium, the “Pig Crisis” was also announced. Students began calling out the animals they thought would be coming instead of Penny: guinea pig, cow, skunk, elephant!

Keaney called out, “A beautiful princess?”

Just then the back door to the auditorium opened and Raz the Goat walked in following a bag of carrots and feed for his big elementary debut. The children roared with laughter and Keaney prepared himself by putting bright pink lipstick on while approaching Raz.

He kneeled down and did the gentlemanly thing by feeding Raz a few food pellets before kissing the goat. A large lipstick mark was left in Raz’s fur right on her nose. The students started to cheer for Keaney to kiss Raz again and he did so a few more times during the assembly.

Keaney said, “She was a very nice goat, very lovey and welcoming towards me. I don’t know if that’s because she liked me or because I was holding all the food. I do believe she enjoyed that first kiss though.”

The $206.47 raised will go toward the sixth graders’ end of the year field trip as well as yearbooks for the class leaving Norwood Elementary.