Three New England dairy farms shared their unique farm story featuring nine dairy calves to over 91,000 students in 2,800 classrooms across the region this past school year. This is possible thanks to a partnership with New England Dairy, the Dairy Excellence Foundation and Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program.
Registration for the 2024-25 school year is now open and closes on September 15, 2024. Click here to register.
The Adopt a Cow program provides educators a fun and engaging year-long virtual educational experience for their classrooms. At the heart of the program is the ability for students to learn about a baby calf and follow her life cycle throughout the school year while paired with a New England dairy farm. Through photo and video updates, immersive, hands-on learning activities and the free curriculum provided by Discover Dairy, students gain a deeper understanding of dairy farming and how milk is produced before it reaches their table.
This past year New England dairy farmers at Mapleleaf Farm in Hebron, CT, MacGlaflin Farm in Claremont, NH and Gervais Family Farm in Enosburg Falls, VT shared stories through the Adopt a Cow program. Thanks to the words and photos from these farm families, all nine calves offered students a glimpse into the life of a dairy calf, what environment they live in, what they eat, and how they are cared for to the delight of thousands of classrooms.
Calves pictured left to right:
Line 1: M&M, Zowie, and Piper
Line 2: Amita, Celestial, and Penelope
Line 3: Gwen, Aurora, and Tawny
“When I signed up to be an Adopt a Cow host farm, I wanted people to learn about dairy, says Julie MacGlaflin of MacGlaflin Farm. I wanted kids to know where their food comes from. Because of this program, we are able to teach more community members, more neighbors, more schools, that we as dairy farmers are working hard to produce a safe, nutritious product for consumers while helping the environment. I see this as a huge positive for the dairy industry and local communities.”
Building Connections and Trust in Dairy
The interactions between farmers, calves, and kids lay the groundwork to increase trust and appreciation of dairy farming. Students not only learn about the importance and versatility of dairy products their families consume daily, but they see firsthand how much dairy farmers care for their animals, land, and communities.
The program also helps teachers create a wide range of connections with their curriculum and community at large. Each program update includes suggestions on components of the Discover Dairy curriculum that teachers can incorporate into their lesson plans. Several of the lessons in the curriculum follow Common CORE standards in Math, Reading, and Science.
Students from Pine Grove School in MA meet their calf for the first time and write letters to Farmer Julie.
Math Lessons
“We loved learning about dairy farming and watching our beautiful girl grow up. We used the growth chart to track our calf’s weight and height and compared it to our own…the students loved hypothesizing how tall she might be at each stage and loved to see her growth as well as their own!” ~ Kim, Elementary School Teacher, CT
Environmental and Sustainability Lessons
“My high school science class (Farm 2 Table) learned about dairy cows and what it takes to raise them as well as what each state requires for milk to make it to grocery stores or homes in general. We watched farm tours and followed delicious dairy recipes that Discover Dairy shared with us.” ~ High School Educator, VT
Geography Lessons
“The students would watch the videos during their snack time, and we would do the activities and readings during our extra block at the end of the day. We connected the information to our natural resources unit, and to our regions of the US (economy). The students loved knowing that our calf came from a farm in our state. It made them interested in knowing more about the area and gave them a new respect for farming. Lots of connections were made to our town.” ~ Melanie, Elementary School Teacher, NH
Dairy Nutrition Activities
“The kids loved receiving the updates and interactions with the farmer. We used the tools to make homemade butter and ice cream which the kids thought was so fun.” ~ Amanda, Elementary School Teacher, NH
“We did some of the lessons and even made butter in class! We loved learning about the science of making butter! Some of my students tried to make butter at home. 🙂 We loved following our cow through the seasons! SO CUTE!! The program brought us so much joy this year!” ~ Anna, Elementary School Teacher, MA
Live Farm Chats
The program culminated in live chats, where students could interact with the farmer, meet the calves, and get questions answered in real time. Questions asked during the live chat focused on topics including cow care, nutrition and dairy products, sustainability, and more. More than 800 classrooms participated in this year’s live chats.
Watch the live chats
Register Today!
The sign-up period for the 2024-25 Adopt a Cow Program closes on September 15. To enroll, visit www.discoverdairy.com/adopt.
