Milk for Health, an organization that provides dairy industry and product education throughout Western New York, coordinated a visit of two newborn calves with Jessie Houghtaling’s Dunkirk class at School 3 on Thursday morning. Over the course of a three-hour visit, classes all throughout the school took their turn visiting with one-day-old Avery and three-day-old Zena, while asking questions and learning more about the dairy farming industry.

“Kids, and even adults, are so far removed from agriculture. Anything we can do to help them understand where their food comes from,” said Lisa Kempisty, an Agriculture Community Educator with the Cornell Cooperative Extension for nearly 40 years. “We have so many dairy farms and other agricultural businesses in Chautauqua County, and unfortunately these young people do not go visit the farms … so we need to bring some animals to the kids.”

The idea began as a way to reward the students for good behavior after focusing on the inclusion of dairy in students’ diets at a cooking event earlier this school year. With June being National Dairy Month, the students at School 3 were due for a reward, and Milk for Health provided just that.

Bethany Beechler, Executive Director of Milk for Health, said the best part of an event like Tuesday’s is “seeing the awe in the kids’ eyes.” Beechler said getting to interact with the animals up close “is something they are going to remember forever.”

Dunkirk School 3 students interacted with two newborn dairy calves, Avery and Zena, at an educational event on Tuesday morning.

That sentiment was shared throughout the day, as class after class rotated in for their turn to pet the young calves. Avery, though two days younger, frequently stood and sought attention. Zena was calmer, but at times still stood to receive the affection from dozens of students who smiled and laughed as they interacted with the friendly creatures.

The children reacted much more positively to the licking of the calves than they did as they relieved themselves in the grass. While the children reacted as children do at such things, the interactions between the students and the animals were consistently gentle and positive.

One of the many classes to visit with the calves was Mr. Desmond’s first grade class. Desmond said he thinks probably 80% of his students might never have a similar experience to interact with young calves up close and personal like they did on Tuesday. Speaking to the experience, Desmond said, “This is a huge thing for the kids and they will never forget this experience.”

Beechler was raised in the dairy industry, as her uncle owned a dairy farm. She always wanted to help her family farm, in what she described as a war against dairy farmers in the world today due to a multitude of factors that make farming arguably more challenging now than ever before. She stated the public perception of dairy products has taken a negative tone throughout society and hopes to change the narrative through education events like Tuesday’s.

“Dairy is healthy. It is healthy for you. We have so many alternatives out on the market now … but we’re just teaching that dairy is still healthy and still good for you,” Beechler said.

A Dunkirk student pets Avery, a one-day-old dairy calf, on Tuesday morning at Dunkirk School No. 3.

Beechler and Houghtaling had a prior relationship through their connection to agriculture. Houghtaling strives to promote what she calls agri-cation – the education of agriculture – throughout her coursework.

“I think it’s important for them to have a broad experience, because then if they are interested in animals, there is a possibility for a job in the future that they would be interested in,” Houghtaling said.

Also in attendance at Tuesday’s event were two youth Dairy Ambassadors of Chautauqua County to discuss the dairy industry and answer questions. Sadie Steward, a student at Randolph High School, presented to each class outside in the grass on the sunny, 70-degree morning.

“I think it’s very important that the industry gets many people to support it,” Steward said. A farmer’s daughter, Steward stressed the hard work farmers do every day to provide for the economy. “We need more people to join the industry and educate everyone about it,” she said.

Steward’s family farm, located in Kennedy, utilizes state of the art robots to efficiently milk the cows they house. “To see the growth from going to a small family farm, it’s just cool to see the new technology,” Steward said.

Steward was joined by Violet Walker, a student at the Northern Chautauqua Catholic School (NCCS) in Dunkirk. While she does not have her own family farm or livestock of her own, Walker shows livestock at the Chautauqua County Fair with calves she and her mother assist with.

“It’s fun to see all the kids enjoying seeing the calves and learning a lot about cows,” Walker said. Tuesday was her first experience with showing newborn calves to students in the area. “It was very nice and fun.”

Walker hopes to have calves visit NCCS this fall so she could educate her classmates on the dairy industry and the raising of livestock. “All the kids could learn how to be around farm animals and take care of them and learn about them more,” Walker said. “Especially for the little kids, so they know where their dairy products come from.”

Steward said of educating younger children in her role as an ambassador, “It’s definitely my favorite part. … It’s cool to get them when they are younger just to teach them for when they get older the true facts. … The younger they are, the more interested they are in hearing me talk.”

Houghtaling thanked the Dairy Ambassadors program and Milk for Health for their visit, and also praised her school’s principal, Kisun Peters, for supporting the not-so-small ask of bringing livestock to campus. She also noted that milk was donated by Upstate Farms for students and staff to enjoy all day Tuesday.

“I think it’s important for teachers and school administrators to know that these programs are available,” Kempisty said, noting the Dairy Ambassadors program and the Milk for Health program, supported by dairy farmers who allocate a portion of sales to support education.

“With the Dairy Ambassador program, we stress to get more people involved, even if they are not part of the dairy industry. It’s important to get those that are not familiar with the industry to teach them more, because the more people that we get, the more support the industry has,” Steward said.

With any questions about the programs featured at Tuesday’s event, contact Kempisty at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Jamestown at (716) 664-9502, ext. 203.