Kaci Raven, District 9 Kings County Dairy Princess

After attending three Christmas parades in December, this month I began my school presentations in Kings County. I visited many schools already this past year but these were my first formal presentations and I can't believe how excited the kids were. We made ice cream in class, creating individual servings in a zip lock bag with lots of ice and rock salt. Just shake...shake...shake...give the kids a spoon and everyone made their own ice cream! They were so excited!

The highlight of any presentation is when I show the students the newborn calf. It always seems to take a great effort to get the calf to the classroom - one was a high jumper and escaped, you get the picture! Anyway, all of that effort is worth it when most of the children had never seen a calf before - much less touched one. The icing on the cake is being able to hand out all of the great giveaway items and gift bags from the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB). A lot of the children come from very meager backgrounds and they are thrilled to receive anything! It is very humbling to see just how poor some of these children are. I was so pleased to be able to provide ice cream for them and pass on the giveaways from the CMAB.

I am amazed at how uneducated the children in our school system are about  agriculture and specifically the production of milk. Most of them do not understand how milk gets to the supermarket. I find them all eager to learn and feel that I am making a difference in their lives as well as contributing to increased consumption of dairy products. That means healthier children and more dairy products being consumed, which usually means more money to the producer too!

On January 12^th, I travel to San Jose to speak to 105 kindergarteners and 100+ primary school children. I am looking forward to this adventure as the calf is going on this road trip in our family suburban. I am sure I will have plenty of stories to tell about those presentations!