Parents, teachers, administrators and students are all still trying to figure out what the school year of 2020-2021 is going to look like. Virtual? In person? A hybrid? It’s causing anxiety for a lot of families. While the rollercoaster continues, dairy farmers are pivoting quickly to try and keep supporting schools with dairy products, and dairy knowledge.
Karen Doster has been one of the busy staff members for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, trying to work with schools statewide – giving them what they need, the way they need it.
Doster leads the Youth in Schools program formerly known as the Wisconsin Dairy Council. Since schools are were kids spend a large percentage of their lives, Doster says its imperative that Wisconsin dairy stays focused on helping school systems provide healthy dairy products for students while outside of a classroom. Everything from fluid milk to Wisconsin cheese and dairy products have been part of the arsenal dispersed across the state to help struggling school lunch programs.
It’s not just their bodies that Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin’s trying to nurture. With all the time that students and families are spending on line, supplying informational content that can be shared has become critical too.
Despite the fact that fall sports are being suspended in many schools – the NFL continues to be a critical partner with the dairy industry through the “Fuel Up To Play 60” program. At it’s core is the goal of keeping kids active. Doster says 1,000 Wisconsin schools (300,000 students) worked with the FUTP60 dairy messages using a new streamlined programming format. They’ve also provided FUTP60 funding grants to 115 schools to implement dairy focused activities.
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