Rock Creek Elementary students stepped outside and into an unfamiliar classroom Monday morning.
Their temporary “classroom” consisted of a stall and a manger – things you’d expect to see more on a farm than at an elementary school. It was part of the Dairy Council of California’s Mobile Dairy Classroom, where students were introduced to a live Holstein cow and bull calf. They learned about the process of getting milk from the cow to the shelves of the grocery stores and were able to pet Michael, the week-old red and white Holstein bull calf.
The Mobile Dairy Classroom’s first Rocklin stop was at Rock Creek Elementary, followed by Twin Oaks, Cobblestone, Rocklin and Valley View elementary schools.
For Rock Creek third-grader Ava Jeung, the most memorable part of the visit was getting up close to Michael, the bull calf.
“My favorite part was petting the calf – he was so soft and really cute,” she said.
In addition to the “cute” factor, the students also left knowing more about cows. For Haley Stubblefield, also a third-grader at Rock Creek, she said she learned that cows have four toes, or hooves, but only use two of them. Third-grader Sara Donnellan said she learned that cows have one stomach that is broken into four sections.
Heston Nunes, the instructor of the Mobile Dairy Classroom, taught students about the cow’s stomach and digestion. Cows pull food in with their tongue, chew and swallow their food. The food is then regurgitated and chewed for a second time – something that is commonly referred to as “chewing her cud,” Nunes said.
Inside the trailer was not only the 125-pound bull calf, but also Molly, a 4-year-old Holstein cow that weighed approximately 1,500 pounds. Molly was five months pregnant with her fourth calf and came from Luis Dairy in Marysville, where she provides milk, producing approximately 10 gallons a day through twice a day milking, Nunes said.
Nunes then explained that the milk from cows helps produce cheese, ice cream, butter, cream cheese and other dairy products. For Nunes, he said the visit teaches kids that milk doesn’t just come from the grocery store – that there’s a whole process of getting the milk drinkable before it reaches the refrigerator.
“The cows and being able to educate the kids,” is the reason Nunes said he enjoys his career.
“It’s good to see their (students’) reaction,” he added.
Part of the visit also included a lesson on nutrition, said Lisa Larsen, territory manager for the Mobile Dairy Classroom. Larsen provided a grade-level-based nutrition curriculum that included a workbook. Also included were healthy eating choices, such as addressing what a healthy breakfast consists of and colors and food groups found within the food pyramid.
Following the lesson, one by one the students were able to pet Michael across the shoulder, which for some provided the highlight of their day.
For more information on the Mobile Dairy Classroom, go to dairycouncilofca.org.

For more photos: Rock Creek Elementary gets a lesson in milk