Kent ISD — Kent Career Tech Center agriscience students Adison Sturm and Meg Middlestadt didn’t expect the level of curiosity their audience had about milk — and how it’s made — including from one attendee who shared insights on how milk is processed in the Netherlands.
Adison and Meg, who are two of the nine officers for the Tech Center’s Future Farmers of America chapter, had been invited to StoryPoint Senior Living West to talk about the staple dairy item for National Milk Day on Jan. 11.
“It went from being a presentation to a conversation,” recalled Adison, a senior at Rockford High School.
The two noted that as their presentation went on, others would join.
“I think I started out setting up about nine cups for each sample, and toward the end I was putting together about 25,” Adison said.
Bethane Visser, StoneyPoint’s engage life coordinator, said she too was impressed with the turnout and the engagement with residents, who she said asked “a ton of questions.”
Increased Community Outreach
Having worked with FFA groups in the past, Visser proposed having a local group come to the StoryPoint facility for National Milk Day. She reached out to the Tech Center chapter, where she met adviser and agriscience instructor Brent Willett.
Willett, a Tech Center alum, was hired to help grow the Tech Center’s FFA program and to bring more animal science to the agriscience curriculum, he said.
The Tech Center has had an FFA program, but activities were limited, Adison said. This year, FFA students have attended the national convention and plan to be at the state convention in March at Michigan State University. There are also 14 FFA members planning to participate in the Michigan Leadership Contest.
Meg, a West Michigan Aviation Academy senior, said community outreach helps build awareness for the program and to connect with younger students who are or might be interested in agriscience.
“There is a big service component to FFA,” Willett said, noting the organization’s motto is “Live to Serve.” For that reason, one of the goals of the Tech Center FFA has been to increase its community outreach.
Several of the students have earned an FFA state degree, which awards them six credits at MSU. Adison said the credits are significant to her, as she plans to study environmental economics at MSU this fall.
Meg, who plans to pursue wildlife ecology and conservation at Michigan Technological University in the fall, said community service helps FFA participants build leadership and career skills while maintaining a commitment to making positive impacts in agriculture and their communities.
Let’s Talk Milk
Meg and Adison worked over winter break to put the presentation together.
Meg said they had been asked to educate residents about milk and its nutritional value, and to share interesting facts — for example, that chocolate milk, higher in sugar, was created to encourage children to drink it.
It also covered milk processing, nutrition and the various types such as whole, skim, 2%, and lactose-free, as well as non-dairy. Participants had the opportunity to sample each type.
“We asked (attendees) after the lactose-free was passed around, whether it tasted any different,” Meg said, adding that most said it did not. “I told them that is because lactose-free milk is just regular milk with the enzyme lactase added to help break down the sugars for those whose bodies can’t.”
The discussion included milk production — from skimming butterfat to high-tech milking methods designed to make it more efficient and improve bovine welfare.
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