This story is part of a series of “meet & greets” with individuals who use our Adopt a Cow program to inspire you with the endless ways you can incorporate the program in the classroom and beyond!

Monica Chamberlain, a sixth-grade teacher from New York, is not only passionate about agriculture, but she works to give her students opportunities to solve real-world problems such as food insecurity.  With her passion for project-based learning, Monica encourages her students to talk about real problems affecting their community and develop their own solutions. This is what kickstarted the student-led Dairy Drive in her classroom, where students sell paper cows to raise money to get milk into their local food cupboard for an entire year.

“We started talking about food insecurities and what it means to be food insecure. Students wondered if we have that here in our community. We did some research, and the kids quickly found out that a lot of our community relies on our food cupboard. From there, we dug into what does that mean and where is our food cupboard located?” Monica shared.

Students led the process, reaching out to the director of the food cupboard and asking their own questions. A key question they asked was: what items are frequently donated, and what items do the people who use the food cupboard truly need? They learned milk was the most requested item, but it was the least donated because it’s not shelf stable.

“From there, our driving question became how do we get milk into the food cupboard? The kids started brainstorming. I started reaching out to different organizations like American Dairy Association Northeast. They gave us paper cows, and the kids sell them for a dollar. Every single bit of our proceeds goes to purchasing milk,” Monica added.

Her students took it a step further and figured out a way to ensure it was local milk they were purchasing and sending to the food cupboard.

“Students really wanted their money that they were working hard to collect to stay local and support a local farm. They decided to purchase our milk from Collins Creamery, right here in Rome, New York. The farm bottles their own milk and sells everything right on their farm,” Monica shared. “The kids worked with the farm, came up with a delivery schedule, and worked with the food cupboard on how many they should deliver at a time.”

During the first year of the Dairy Drive, her students raised about $400. The second year, the group raised even more and were able to support additional people in their community.

“The kids set a goal to get milk in the food cupboard for an entire year. We were two weeks shy, which is really disappointing, but we raised a ton of money. They were able to get milk not only in our food cupboard for almost the entire year, but they raised so much money that we actually started donating milk to a local assisted living facility for senior members,” Monica said.

Beyond supporting their community, Monica’s students have been learning real-world business skills such as:

• Making phone calls and email communication. “Any phone calls that needed to be made, the kids were making them. Any emails that needed to be sent out, the students were sending them.”
• Coordinating with businesses and arranging delivery timelines. “We partnered with Chobani on this Dairy Drive as well, and Chobani donated flats of yogurt and cases of drinkable yogurt. The kids were arranging that, working on timelines, and meeting deadlines.”
• Learning how to address envelopes and write thank-you letters. “We write thank-you cards to anybody who helps, so kids are working on writing skills and how to address envelopes.”

“This has become more than just a fundraiser. Students are learning how to talk to people, how to approach people, how to manage money with the help of the teacher, and how to be turned down – because sometimes the answer is ‘no,’” Monica shared. “I’m constantly trying to find ways to teach our curriculum, but put a real-world twist on it. This gets students out in the community doing fun things, but they’re learning countless life skills,” Monica added.

How does Discover Dairy’s “Adopt a Cow” program fit into the inspiring work her students are doing?

To take the lessons they’re learning through the Dairy Drive a step further, Monica signed up for the Adopt a Cow program two years ago. Her goal was for students to get a deeper look at dairy farms and how milk is produced by being paired with a calf from a working dairy farm.

“I’ve done the Adopt a Cow program for two years, and I absolutely love it so much. I have used it in a variety of ways. We do have a lot of farming around us, but the majority of our population has no idea where their food comes from. Many of them don’t know the milk that’s in their carton is coming from a cow,” she explained. “Maybe we can’t physically visit our adopted calf through the program, but we can go to Collins Creamery and make the connections.”

With photos and virtual updates provided through the Adopt a Cow program, Monica’s students are learning about how fast cows grow, career opportunities in agriculture, and how milk goes from the farm to the table – or in their case, their local food cupboard.

“The Adopt a Cow program helps us talk about the milk process and how it goes from cow to carton. We’ve been able to use our calf to make those connections,” Monica added. “Students love the updates and seeing the pictures. We talk about how our calf is so cute, but one day she’s going to start producing milk. I love bringing agriculture into my classroom because it is such a great learning tool for so many different elements.”

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The Adopt a Cow Program is now open for enrollment for the 2025 school year! Click here to learn more and adopt a cow for your classroom today. The program, which impacted more than 1.7 million students last school year, is free thanks to support from Discover Dairy partners and donors.

Discover Dairy is an educational series managed by the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania in partnership with American Dairy Association Northeast, American Dairy Association Indiana, Midwest Dairy, The Dairy Alliance, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Dairy Management West, Dairy West, New England Dairy, Dairy Farmers of Washington, American Dairy Association Mideast, Dairy Council of Florida, United Dairy Industry of Michigan, Maine Dairy and Nutrition Council, and Oregon Dairy Council.