Hallie the Jersey cow

Trout Primary students got to meet “Hallie” the Jersey Cow at the Mobile Dairy Classroom, a division of the Southwest Dairy Museum, Inc., a non-profit, educational program funded by dairymen across the Southwest and Southeast. Hallie’s trailer was parked in the front circle at Trout Primary for all the children to see. The classroom is a traveling milking parlor, featuring a live cow and an oral presentation.

Students got to see how to milk a cow, learn about dairy farmers, and the nutritional value of milk.

Mobile Dairy Classroom Instructor, Aaron Sanders, had several messages for the students with the number one being that milk is good for you. He also made sure the kids knew that chocolate milk doesn’t come from brown cows.

Mr. Sanders hooked up Hallie to the milking machine and milk flowed into a huge container. Hallie can produce five gallons of milk a day. The students squealed with delight when the milk start flowing into the large glass jug.

“This is an innovative program that brings the dairy experience directly to children. At schools, students and teachers share an experience that includes math, science, health (nutrition), and agriculture, all presented in an outdoor classroom format,” according to the Southland Dairy Farmers website.

Mr. Sanders talks to the students about the importance of drinking milk.