John Lewis Childs School fourth grade classes participated in a six-week dairy education pilot program with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County, in collaboration with the Cornell University New York Agriculture in the Classroom Program. The program is running from April 27-June 1.
The program was developed using resources from Cornell University, various milk commodity groups and the experiences of agricultural educators nationwide. The goal of the program is to help students understand and communicate the source and value of New York State dairy products and their related industries.
The students received weekly virtual lessons from Nicole Nash, a 4-H agriculture program educator from CCE – Nassau. The lessons focused on New York’s dairy industry, how the industry uses environmentally-smart farming solutions, the various species of ruminants that produce milk, dairy technology, nutrition and careers that support the industry. Along with the lessons, students participated in activities such as cheese tasting, tasting different kinds of milk, making butter, creating parfaits and planting using CowPots (created from composted cow manure).
The fourth grade teachers noted that the students were engaged in the lessons each week and were excited to learn more about the dairy industry.
