Farm experience comes to Gause Elementary School

WASHOUGAL — Marvina Bugajski’s first-graders at Gause Elementary School recently welcomed a newborn Holstein calf, virtually, through the Discover Dairy Adopt a Calf program. “We participated in this program to adopt a calf last school year, and the students really enjoyed it,” Bugajski said in a press release. “We were recently introduced to our family farm, Groeneveld Family Farm in Monroe, (Ore.) … and just met our adopted calf, Felicia.” Over the next six months, the farm will send updates, images and videos, plus activity sheets. The students will write letters to ask the Groeneveld family questions and to send caring messages to the calf. The session culminates with a visit to the farm with Felicia in April or May. The program supports aspects of the first-grade curriculum: language arts is incorporated through letter writing, and science and math are learned with parts of the cow and tracking its growth.