From elementary and middle school to high school, college and beyond, the Dairy Excellence Foundation offers curriculum, on-farm experiences, scholarships and internships to students of all ages – all available at no cost thanks to our donors and partners. As we begin the 2024-25 school year, learn more about how these programs continue to grow and help students from across the U.S. connect with dairy farmers in their communities, learn where their food comes from and explore career opportunities in the dairy industry. 

Oregon school cafeteria adopts a cow to get students excited about drinking milk

Lynne Shore, nutrition services director at Willamina School District in Oregon, adopted a cow for the 800 students (K-12) her cafeteria serves. After planning a farmers market for students a year earlier, Lynn and her team decided to participate in Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program. The free program impacted more than 1.2 million students last school year.

“I don’t think kids have much experience with dairy farms other than just driving by them,” Shore shares. “We have a farm-to-school education grant, and last year we did a farmers market where the kids could actually buy food from a farmer and take it home. We had the dairy princess ambassador come, and she brought a calf. That’s kind of where the connection started, so we have been following that connection along with the Adopt a Cow program. It has been really eye-opening, especially for kids who don’t see dairy farms every day.”

Lynne Shore, nutrition services director, adopted a calf for their cafeteria to help students make connections to the milk they drink. Photo courtesy of Center for Dairy Excellence.

With the cafeteria being a central point between all the schools in the Oregon school district, Shore enjoys adding bursts of education and fun into the students’ lunch experience. After adopting a calf through the program, she received regular photos, video updates, lesson ideas and other activities throughout the year to share with students when they visited the cafeteria. At the broader level, the Adopt a Cow program is helping the cafeteria staff make important nutrition-based learning moments with students – who now understand exactly where their milk comes from and have a personal connection with the farmers and animals that produce it.

“I’m always looking for educational opportunities, and this looked like a good one,” she says. “It kind of went with our mission of providing milk for the kids. I think the program really encourages the kids to drink milk. It’s always important for them to know where their food comes from, but especially milk and foods they see every day. It has been really fun for them.”

Students tour U.S. dairy farms through field trip grants

To provide students with hands-on learning experiences at local dairy farms each spring, a group of 69 elementary and middle school teachers from a total of 22 states received Discover Dairy Farm Tour Field Trip Grants through the Dairy Excellence Foundation, Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. The grants, which amounted to more than $30,000, allowed more than 2,900 students to tour dairy farms in their community and talk firsthand with dairy farmers and their families.

During the farm tours, students discovered how farmers care for their cows, conserve their natural resources and produce nutritious dairy products. Teachers also used the field trip as an opportunity to build connections to their educational curriculum and local community.

“The generous grant from Discover Dairy enabled 25 first-grade students to visit a working dairy farm where they learned about different types of cows, what cows eat and their favorite dairy products,” says Sarah, a first-grade teacher from Virginia and farm tour field trip grant recipient. "The students were also able to meet undergraduate students majoring in dairy science who work at the farm. The trip really highlighted how important dairy farming is to our community. It reinforced the care and process used to get milk from cows to our tables at home. I cannot wait to participate in the Discover Dairy program again this year.” 

High school teachers help students explore careers in dairy and agriculture 

Whether students grew up on a dairy farm or are discovering their passion for agriculture for the first time, the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow (DLT) program includes four courses teachers can incorporate into their classroom instruction or assign to students to complete independently. The program’s hands-on educational experiences take it a step further. These experiences allow students and teachers to step foot on a working dairy farm to make connections and explore different career options.

"We use the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow curriculum to supplement the different units of instruction I have in my animal science course. Just the other week, we were talking about animal facilities, so I pulled out the lesson where students could do a virtual farm tour and learn about calf housing, dry cow housing and freestall barns,” says Darla Romberger, a DLT educator and high school agriculture educator from Pennsylvania. “When I saw the opportunity to bring students to an actual on-farm experience, I really wanted to take advantage of that – especially for students who have an interest in entering careers in dairy. What better way than to see a working farm, analyze data and connect our curriculum to the real world.”

Darla Romberger helps her high school students explore potential careers in dairy. Photo courtesy of Center for Dairy Excellence.

Using a three-part model, the DLT program offers online courses and classroom curriculum, on-farm experience opportunities and annual scholarships for both educators and students. A total of more than 34,500 high school students have been impacted by the program to date.

Animal science student earns college credits through DLT program

Through an articulation agreement between Delaware Valley University and the DLT program, Natasha Maddox of Wellsboro Area High School in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, had the opportunity to earn college credits after completing four DLT courses during her senior year of high school. Now starting her sophomore year at Delaware Valley University, Maddox is studying animal science in the pre-veterinary track. The program introduced her to dairy-specific concepts that prepared her for her college career.

Natasha Maddox had the opportunity to earn college credits after completing four Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow courses during her senior year of high school. Photo courtesy of Center for Dairy Excellence.

“At the time when my agricultural educator informed me of the DLT opportunity, I was working on my artificial insemination certification,” Maddox says. “I figured DLT could not only help me with my hopes to possibly study veterinary in the future, but I could also learn other aspects about the dairy industry. I knew the processes and equipment because of my grandparents owning a dairy farm, but I wasn’t super-familiar with dairy overall.”

The DLT courses were well suited to Maddox’s independent nature and helped her make connections to other high school courses she was completing, such as agricultural business. By earning six college credits, she began her college career a step ahead with a deep foundation in the dairy industry under her belt.

“I really like working independently on topics I’m passionate about. I liked how the DLT courses were self-paced,” she adds. “It helped me gain a lot of credits for just starting out in college. I’m currently a semester ahead, as far as I’m aware. Even though I already had a strong foundation with my own livestock, DLT helped me have a better understanding to bring over to what I want to do after college.”

To learn more about the Discover Dairy and Adopt a Cow programs, visit Discover Dairy's website or contact Brittany Snyder. 

To learn more about the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow Program, visit the website or contact Michelle Shearer. 

With less than 2% of the U.S. population directly involved in production agriculture, the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania was created to expose students to agriculture-related careers and inspire the producers, consumers and advocates of tomorrow. This is an overview of the foundation’s recent impact.