Sparta — Students at Ridgeview Elementary are learning all about agriculture with the help of a dairy cow named Tori.
Tori — full name Tornado — was born on Sept. 1 at a Battle Creek dairy farm, and she’s part of the year’s curriculum for kindergarten through second-grade Ridgeview students.
Tori entered the students’ lives thanks to STEM teacher Michelle Barber. She applied to Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program, which links schools with cows from all over the country, letting students follow along as their assigned calf grows and gets ready for a life of service on the farm.
‘Everyone was involved, and it just really roused the excitement of all of the kids.’
— Ridgeview Elementary art teacher Amy Smith
All About Tori
Though they haven’t met Tori in person, students are already learning interesting facts about her.
Zelda Kalafut, a second-grader, couldn’t believe how small the calf was when students first saw her in photos and videos.
“It’s, like, this tall,” Zelda said, holding her hands about a foot above the ground. “And really skinny. But what’s crazy about cows is that they think rotten pumpkins are treats!”
Zelda scrunched up her face in disgust, demonstrating her feelings on that snack choice.
Students are learning about cows in general, too.
“A robot milks them,” said second-grader Finley Karasiewicz, who was shocked to find out that milk collection is not done by hand on big dairy farms.
“And,” he added, “they put tags on the ears to know their number.”
“They milk, like, 900 cows twice a day,” explained first-grader Brooks Bragdon. “I’m like, how do they even do that?
“And when they milk the cows, the machines can notice how much the machine needs to milk. So when the machine knows that it’s done milking, it’ll stop.”
The students can’t wait to learn more as the year progresses. Zelda wants to know about how cows produce milk, while classmate Abe Stewart is keen to see the degree to which Tori’s color patterns shift over time.
“I really want to see if more white spots pop up on it. Or if they get bigger,” Abe said.
Making Connections
Barber found the Adopt a Cow program online and applied on a whim, thinking it would help students link their class work to the world around them.
“You follow your baby calf throughout the year, and they send you pictures and updates and lessons, just to bring awareness about agriculture, the farming industry, the dairy industry and how STEM incorporates all of farming, since most students don’t make the connection between technology and farming,” she said.
Barber is getting other teachers involved, too.
“It’s just more fun when there’s cross-collaboration,” she said. “It’s made a little buzz and a little energy in the building.”
For instance, as Ridgeview waited to learn whether its calf was male or female, art teacher Amy Smith asked students to use their imaginations to predict its appearance.
“The kids in every class worked on making cow portraits and what they thought the cow might look like, because we didn’t know,” Smith said. “We didn’t know if it was going to be a girl or a boy, if it was going to be black and white, if it was going to be brown and white.
“Everyone was involved, and it just really roused the excitement of all of the kids.”
Brooks used browns and blues in his drawing, while fellow first-grader Stella Dietrich opted for rainbow patterns here and there.
“I like that we could draw whatever color we wanted to,” Stella said.
Plenty of Possibilities
There are ways to include Tori in virtually every class, said Smith.
“The science behind how a cow grows, what they eat, the social studies part of it, because we live in a rural area — it ties into all of that,” she said.
Barber agreed, adding that early lessons have been productive, and have “snowballed” into discussions about how milk gets from farms to stores, how it’s kept cold, how it gets on the shelves and so on.
“A lot of the learning has been led by the students, actually, and their questioning and their ideas,” Barber said.
Ridgeview students will continue to learn about Tori throughout the school year, receiving lessons, photos and updates from Discover Dairy, and even having a few virtual visits with Tori.
Read more from Sparta:
• After 50 years, this teacher has no regrets
• Sparta prioritizes student needs, communication in new district roadmap
