NORTH CAROLINA — In a year where field trips are pretty much nonexistent, teachers wanted to find ways to keep students engaged. That's where the Adopt-A-Cow Program comes in.

 

What You Need To Know

  • The Dairy Alliance, an organization funded by dairy farmers in the southeast, partnered with Discover Dairy, an educational organization in Pennsylvania, to bring the Adopt-A-Cow program to N.C.

  • The program teaches children about agriculture and animal care

  • In N.C., there are 6,159 classrooms participating in the program. Most are public or private school classrooms, but there are also daycares, homeschools, youth clubs, etc. participating

Thousands of students across North Carolina receive information every couple of months about their calves. The updates include pictures, videos, and activity sheets for students to complete.

Marybeth Black's family owns G.W. Bell & Sons Farm in Kings Mountain. Four of the calves there are the cows involved in this program.

Black is a former teacher herself and says often times, many kids don't know where their food comes from. She hopes to change that.

“That way at the end, when they look at a glass of milk, they can say, 'that's coming from where my baby calf is,'” Black says.

This is the first year of the program in North Carolina, but teachers like Karen Spivey at McGee's Crossroads Middle School in Benson hope it continues.

“I may not be able to take them to the farm, but I try my best to bring the farm and the world in to them,” Spivey says.

Through updates on their own calf, students will learn agricultural practices, the importance of dairy, and the importance of dairy cows.