2012 Feb - Lions Australia

Lions’ dairy project a national winner
When Victoria’s
Strzelecki club started
its Cows Create
Careers project eight
years ago, few could
have predicted its
Australia-wide success
Like much of the rural sector, the dairy
industry is having trouble finding good help –
but seven years ago a local Lions club came
up with one way of addressing the issue.
In 2004, Victoria’s Strzelecki Lions Club in
Gippsland initiated the Cows Create Careers
project to encourage high school students to
consider a dairy career. It reached nine Victorian
schools and 141 students that year, with funding
provided by the Gardiner Foundation (a dairy
industry body).
Two years later, Dairy Australia agreed to
support the growth of the project to other states
and in 2009 it became a national dairy program.
Cows Create Careers provides students with the
opportunity to take care of two three-week-old
dairy calves for three weeks, with support and
advice from local dairy farmers and others.
Schools receive a resources kit for the termlong
project, which includes a curriculum guide,
CD-rom, posters and information on calf rearing
and the dairy industry.
Students share their experiences and
demonstrate what they have learned by presenting
a data show and a research poster. They also send
thank-you letters to the farmers and industry
representatives, and create a newsletter.
The program concludes with a presentation and
awards ceremony.
Today, the project is delivered to 176 schools
and 6389 students across 20 Australian dairying
regions.
More than 100 farmers and industry
representatives have volunteered to support the
teachers and students.
Last year the project was expanded to include
dairy manufacturing; offering teachers the
opportunity to train students to make cheese in the
classroom, visit a dairy factory and discover the
opportunities for careers in dairy processing, from
plant operation to microbiology or engineering.
Cows Create Careers also expanded its reach
into Western Australia, bringing its total student
and teacher numbers to 37,740.
– Adapted from a story by Liz Cotton,
Dairy News Australia
February - March 2012
Moruya, NSW, high school student Sophie Cahill taking part in the Cows Create Careers project instigated by
Strzelecki Lions. Started as a local initiative it is now spreading across the nation. Picture courtesy Dairy
News Australia.
Careers in the dairy
According to Deanne Kennedy, who with her
business partner, Lion John Hutchison, runs
the Cows Create Careers project for Dairy
Australia, regional and city-based students
don’t know about the range of careers open
to them in dairy.
“Most think of dairy farming as the only career
pathway, but in fact if they're into IT – there’s a
career for them in dairy, if they’re into
engineering – there’s a career for them in dairy,”
says Deanne who travels all over Australia
coordinating the program.
“There are so many options; whether it is in
science, marketing, farming and so on. Our aim
has been to raise awareness about this to the
students, teachers and parents.”
Deanne says the proof is in the pudding when it
comes to assessing the success of the project.
"Our aim has never been to turn every student
into a dairy professional, but if we can make a
difference to one or two students who then
consider a dairy career, then we’re on the right
path.
"There are countless students who have gone
on to do work experience at a dairy farm and are
now working, doing traineeships or studying in a
dairy related field.”
The project has attracted much support from
farmers and industry advocates volunteering their
time and expertise to the cause.
At the completion of the project, Cows Create
Careers aims to link the National Centre for Dairy
Education and other industry professionals with
students to allow them to follow on their learning if
they wish.
What teachers think
Mount Waverley, Melbourne Agriculture
teacher Lisa Moloney, Avila College: “Cows
Create Careers has been extremely successful
since the school first implemented the project in
2006. Last year there were three classes of 25
year 9 girls enrolled to study the Environmental
Science elective, which is where Cows Create
Careers sits in our curriculum.
“The parents come with students on the
weekends to help take care of the calves and we
have had a number of girls go on to do work
experience milking on dairy farms in Shepparton.
“I think the beauty of the project is that it brings
dairy and agriculture to the lives of students and
their families who may never have thought of
considering it as a career.”
Agriculture teacher David Muller, St Johns
the Evangelist Catholic High School, Nowra,
Southern NSW: “The hands-on style of the
project is not only of benefit to students who like to
get in there and get involved, but it really brings
those who are a little more reserved out of their
shell. We are not trying to get all the students to
become dairy farmers; the aim is to get them to
start thinking about different career pathways.”
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