For Jenna Kibbe, a high school ag teacher at Cumberland Valley High School in Pennsylvania, the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow (DLT) program is helping her develop hands-on experiences for her 10th through 12th grade animal science students.
“I’ve decided to incorporate Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow into my curriculum because it creates hands-on experiences for students to learn about where their food comes from and how animals are treated properly and ethically in the animal science industry,” said Jenna.
Available at no cost to teachers like Jenna, the DLT curriculum includes four main courses: Introduction to Dairy, Introduction to Dairy Herd Management, Introduction to Dairy Business Management, and Introduction to Dairy Technologies. Students can work through the courses independently, or teachers can choose to lead their classrooms through specific lessons and group activities – such as designing their own dairy barn, learning about robotic milking technology, exploring career options in the agriculture industry and more.
“A lot of times, my students don’t know where milk comes from. It’s really cool to see students create hands-on projects, work through the DLT lessons, take the quizzes, and really see how and where their food comes from,” Jenna shared. “It’s cool to do these projects and display them throughout the school, so they can share their knowledge with friends and family of how to carefully raise animals and ethically support the industry.”
Students can receive industry-recognized certifications for certain DLT courses that can help lay the foundation for a future career path in the dairy industry. Ultimately, Jenna says the DLT program is also exposing her students to the rewarding world of animal agriculture so they can make informed purchasing decisions in the future.
“Whether my students come from a farming background or not, they’re really learning the ins and outs of how to care for animals and how to be supporters of the animal science industry in the future,” she added.
Learn more about the DLT program and sign up to have access to curriculum, activities and more at no cost. Any costs associated with the Dairy Leaders of Tomorrow program are generously offset through contributions made to the Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania