Find Resources for Students

Today, nearly 98% of the U.S. population does not live on a farm, resulting in a knowledge gap in how, where and why food is produced. Reaching children with information about how milk and dairy foods are produced will help them make informed purchase and consumption choices as adults. Encouraging them to understand the role the dairy industry plays in the commonwealth and explore the careers available in the dairy industry is also essential to the future viability of dairy.

Discover Dairy

Discover Dairy is an engaging website with two complete lesson series that meet state educational standards for upper elementary and middle school level students. Five elementary lessons include video, lesson plans, classroom activities, worksheets and interactive computer-based games and address dairy’s role in animal care, milk quality, the environment, the economy and good nutrition. Four middle school level lessons apply science concepts to the dairy farm to help students understand how dairy farms contribute to our world.

The kids section of the Web site includes interactive games and other resources about dairy.

The farmers section has resources to help dairy farm families plan and execute dairy farm tours.

Careers in Dairy

Every nine cows creates one job somewhere within the food and retail sector, with the dairy industry responsible for 45,000 jobs across the commonwealth. To help high school and middle school students understand the careers available in the dairy industry, the center interviewed more than 30 people on what they do, what they like about their jobs, and what qualifications are needed to fulfill that role. This presentation can be downloaded and used at Career Days, Job Fairs and other events reaching students.

Click here to download the presentation.

Student Leader Scholarships

The Center for Dairy Excellence will continue offering the academic scholarships formerly from the Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, making $5,000 available for the 2011 - 2012 academic year to directly support Student Leader Scholarships. Each scholarship has a value of $1,000. The purpose of these scholarships is to provide recognition, encouragement and financial assistance to outstanding students in academic programs that support the dairy industry.

Click here for an application

Click here for guidelines

Other dairy-related educational materials

Organizations like Dairy Management Inc. and the National Dairy Council offer a wealth of dairy-related educational resources, as do the milk marketing boards located in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Here are some links for more information.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association Dairy Spot

Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board Milk Can Lesson Plans