Old MacDrummond had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!!!  

St. Louis District Dairy Council has partnered with dairy farmers in Illinois and Missouri to bring the Adopt-A-Calf School Program to classrooms. The no-cost program allows classes to “adopt” a calf from one of its farmers, name it, and receive monthly pictures and updates.

Fourth grade teacher Ginger Roberts has participated in the program for a few years. 

“Our class named our cow Toast and she lives at Clover Farms which is a real farm in Illinois,” Roberts said. 

Kelsey Bentlage is a nutrition educator from the St. Louis Dairy Council and she visited Roberts’ class today. 

“She talked about the farm and what the life of a cow on the farm is like,” Roberts said. “She explained what the cows eat, where they sleep and what the job of a cow is on the farm.”

She answered questions from the students and provided a cow mask art project for the class. 

Later in the year, Roberts will do a food-tasting activity with the students. 

“The Dairy Council offers a $20 gift card to Walmart and you can buy dairy products for the classroom, including milk, cheese and yogurt,” she said. “We talk about all the different products that can come from a farm and that kind of leads into a lesson about health and nutrition and what dairy products do for our bodies and why they are so important.” 

View a photo gallery: https://pattonvillesd.smugmug.com/2021-2022/DR-Adopt-a-Calf/