South West students gathered in Busselton on June 18 for the Cows Create Careers presentation day.
The event was the culmination of the project, which involved students rearing and caring for two three-week-old calves at their school.
WA College Agriculture – Harvey, Busselton Senior High School, Cornerstone Christian College, Eaton Community School, Pemberton District High School, Donnybrook District High School, Georgiana Molloy Anglican School and Manjimup Senior High School participated in the program.
Over three weeks, students completed the innovative Dairy Australia project.
Each school was provided with dairy industry curriculum.
A local dairy farmer taught students how to care for the calves, while an industry advocate visited the students to speak about their career in the dairy industry.
Students were required to form teams to complete assessments based on the dairy industry.
Dairy Australia workforce development program manager Sally Roberts said it was encouraging to see secondary students passionate about Cows Create Careers and Australia’s dairy industry.
“The aim of Cows Create Careers is to increase the students’ awareness of the diversity of educational pathways and career opportunities in Australia’s dairy industry,” she said.
“Through the project, students learn about the different skills required in the dairy industry in a fun and hands-on way.
“It is great to see enthusiastic students getting involved and learning about the industry, while making important connections with their local dairy community.”
At the presentation day, students participated in industry-based games and prizes were awarded to the project’s winning teams.
Manjimup Senior High School was awarded the winning senior school.
The school’s teams took out first and second place in the senior team category.
The Milky Moos, made up of Jayda Sebire, Kaeley Styles, Kiara Little, Madison Little, Rebecca Muir and Tiaya Barnsby were the winners, with Six Farm Boys – Jordan Johnson, Dylan Edwards, Sebastian Omodei, Leo Field, Calvin Parker and Chaz Russo, named runners-up.
Busselton Senior High School’s team of Sophie Bradley, Chloe Rogers, Brianna Sermon and Montana Ternardi came third.
Eaton Community College and Cornerstone Christian College tied for winning junior school.
Zoi Dirix, Megan Griffiths, Alyx Williams, Claire Pollard and Aylesha Nardi from Eaton Community College took out the first prize in the junior team category.
The Cornerstone Christian College team of Ned Kalbfell, Levi Snowden, Noah Diswell, Thomas Piggot and Brodie Pearce placed second.
The school also came in third with The Cow Girls – Harleigh Riley, Alexia Andreone and Kaiana Harris.
The project is funded by Western Dairy and with additional support from MaxCare, Kettridges Stockfeeds, Dasco, Daviesway, Skellerup and Peach Teats.
