Butter-making and more at MTSU Farm charms City Schools 3rd-graders

Nearly 1,300 Murfreesboro City Schools’ third-graders were fascinated by the butter-making process and much more during their fifth annual “Farm2School” field trip to the MTSU Farm and Dairy in Lascassas, Tennessee.

The students visited the university’s Experiential Learning and Research Center — the farm and dairy — Wednesday, May 8.

The farm experience is part of a partnership between Murfreesboro City Schools and MTSU, which was led by School of Agriculture Director Jessica Carter, farm-dairy Director Matthew Wade and a number of students, faculty and staff.

Participating elementary schools included Black Fox, Bradley and Cason Lane academies, Discovery School at Bellwood, Erma Siegel, Hobgood, John Pittard, Mitchell-Neilson, Northfield, Overall Creek, Reeves Rogers and Scales.

School buses dropped off children at 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. for two-hour visits, where they learned about cows (and their feed), chickens, goats and other animals; bees and honey; farm equipment; the milking parlor, MTSU Creamery chocolate milk and more, with an average of 80 students at each of the five stations around the dairy and garden areas.

There was a whole lot of shakin’ going on at the two butter stations, as each child received a small plastic container of cream and was told to shake until the liquid turned to butter.

“This has been really fun,” said Ivy Sampson, 9, a Discovery School at Bellwood student. “I enjoyed making the butter, and it was really good making the lima bean necklace look like a greenhouse.” She also enjoyed “seeing how the apple trees have grown since last year.”

Mitchell-Neilson student Ryleigh Mullen, 9, also enjoyed the butter-making process.

“I like shaking it and how that turns it into butter,” she said, savoring her first-time visit to the MTSU Farm.

David Howse, 9, an Erma Siegel student, said the field trip was “very cool … seeing the goats, cow and making the lima bean necklace. It was a bunch of fun.”