Students can Help! 5 Steps to Involve Students in Mooving Milk at your School

Students can Help! 5 Steps to Involve Students in Mooving Milk at your School

Milk Coordinators work hard to make fresh, cold milk available in their school but it can appear like a lot of work. Lighten your load by involving students! Everyone wins with Milk Moovers! Milk Coordinators get hands-on support, save time and have an opportunity to engage with students Students get a fun and rewarding experience, make friends and strengthen math, living, leadership and business skills Schools support healthy eating and volunteerism, reinforce the curriculum and raise money Here are five steps to make it easier to run the Milk Program, ensure Milk Moovers get the most from being involved, and reinforce curriculum connections for all students. Apply all of these strategies or just a few.

Reinforcing the curriculum for students Milk Moovers get hands-on opportunities to put their classroom learning to use. Other students can benefit too! Here are some ideas for your classroom: Health and Physical Education. Explore and plan balanced and nutritious school lunches including dairy products. (hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guidealiment/index-eng.php). H&PE Curriculum strand C2. Making Healthy Choices, Grades 1 8 Language. Advertise the benefits of the Milk Program. Look at how milk has been advertised, including the popular Get a Load of Milk (getaloadofmilk.ca) and Got Milk (gotmilk.com) campaigns. Media Literacy strand, Grades 1 8 Arts. Create a logo for your school s milk campaign. Discuss what makes a successful logo, looking at logos that have been used to advertise milk in the past. Visual Arts strand, Grades 1 8 Math. Set fundraising goals and record money earned by your school s Milk Program. Number Sense and Numeration, Grades 1 8; Patterning and Algebra strand, Grades 7 8

Identify roles for Milk Moovers 1 in your school As they say, many hands make light work. Milk Moovers can help: Promote the Milk Program and the new Milk Online Management System (MOMS) (www.milkinschool.ca) Load the dairy order into the fridge (if you don t use the 5 Star Dairy Service) Collect and input milk orders that aren t placed online Bring milk to the classrooms or lunchroom Set up and run the concession stand Roll coins Hand out Milk Rewards in a creative way

Each school runs their Milk Program differently. The important thing is to find roles that make sense for you. The roles you choose should make it easier for you to run the Milk Program and provide a meaningful and fun opportunity for students. Here are some things to think about when deciding what roles are right for Milk Moovers: Assign students to roles that are meaningful and fulfilling Provide students with roles that are age and developmentally appropriate Ensure to only involve students in roles that you have the time and energy to support 1 Identify roles for Milk Moovers in your school

Prepare Milk Moovers 2 for success Once you know how you will involve students in your Milk Program, the next step is to build a foundation for success. Remember: The time you invest in preparing students to be Milk Moovers will save time in the long run, by making sure things run smoothly throughout the year. Free online materials are available to support you and your Milk Moovers in managing your school s Milk Program! Visit www.milkinschool.ca for more information and to access the tools.

Ways to build a foundation for success Develop a brief job description for the Milk Moovers. Milk Moovers need to know their roles and the tasks that are expected of them. Turn to the last page for a sample job description. Hold an orientation. This is a great way to establish a positive team dynamic, introduce Milk Moovers to their role, and build the skills they will need to be successful. This doesn t have to be long a lunchtime meeting or two. Break down tasks into steps. Help Milk Moovers learn how to do their job by breaking down tasks into steps. Provide this information on a handout so Milk Moovers can easily review the steps when needed. Utilize experienced Milk Moovers. Put the power of peer mentoring to work: have a group of experienced Milk Moovers who can help new Milk Moovers with the role. Reduce risks. Identify the possible risks (for example, a student losing money or making a calculation error) and come up with strategies to avoid or deal with the risks. 2 Prepare Milk Moovers for success

Find Milk 3 Moovers You are now ready to reach out to the students in your community to find your Milk Moovers. Tip! Some students are very motivated to get involved in their school. These students are often seen as the natural choice for opportunities such as being a Milk Moover. Students who are less likely to volunteer often have the most to gain from being involved. Often times, the only thing needed to get these students involved is a bit of encouragement from a trusted adult like their teacher.

Ways to reach out to students Include teachers. Teachers know their students and can encourage students to get involved. You ll also need their support to make announcements in their classrooms. Get your colleagues on board by sharing how being a Milk Moover can reinforce the curriculum and can benefit student learning outcomes. Understand why students get involved. Highlight the things that students might value about being a Milk Moover. Some things that students might value include job skills, making friends, being a leader, or being involved in their school. Connect the Milk Program to fundraising. Students need to raise money for all sorts of things including their Grade 8 trip. Helping out with the Milk Program is one way that a class or a team can raise money. Involve experienced Milk Moovers. No one can sell things better to students than other students. Involve your experienced Milk Moovers in making posters and announcements, doing class visits and talking with other students. 3 Find Milk Moovers

4 Moovers Keep your Milk mooving Getting students involved is one thing. Keeping them involved is another! Some turnover among Milk Moovers should be expected students interests change or they get overwhelmed with busy schedules, and eventually all students will move on to their next school.

Here are some ideas on how to help you limit turnover among your Milk Moovers Focus on team building and fun. Use icebreakers, energizers and reflective check-ins during team meetings to help your Milk Moovers get to know each other and feel part of the team. Supervision and coaching. You have an important role in supporting the Milk Moovers. Keep an eye on how things are going for each Milk Moover and your overall team. Let them know what they are doing well and what they could change to do even better. Foster ownership in the Milk Program. Your Milk Moovers will be more invested in the Milk Program if they feel like they are a valued part of the program. Ask Milk Moovers for their ideas on how to make the program work better. Opportunities to grow. Students appreciate opportunities to take on more responsibility and leadership. Get experienced Milk Moovers to help you coordinate the Milk Moovers or run team meetings. 4 Keep your Milk Moovers mooving

5Celebrate your Milk Moovers! Everyone likes to feel like their efforts are noticed and valued. This is especially true for volunteers. Recognizing the important contributions that your Milk Moovers make boosts morale and helps to keep student volunteers motivated and engaged.

Ways to recognize your Milk Moovers Give volunteer recognition awards. Check out our website for certificates that you can give to Milk Moovers. Special gifts from the Dairy Farmers of Canada. We send out gifts in the spring for the Milk Moovers to acknowledge their work over the year. We also send gifts for Milk Coordinators we appreciate how much you do for your school! Milk Moover of the Month. Feature a different Milk Moover each month. Involve your Milk Moovers in recognizing each other. Don t wait! You don t have to wait for the end of the year to celebrate your Milk Moovers. Thank students for their help, and acknowledge a job well done. Looking for more ways to simplify your role and save time? Check out our new Milk Online Management System (MOMS) - a single, easy to use, customizable tool to help you and your Milk Moovers effectively manage all products for sale at your school. Visit www.milkinschool.ca for more information. 5 Celebrate your Milk Moovers!

Sample Milk Moover Job Description Customize this sample job description for your school s Milk Moovers. Milk Moovers are senior students who help the Milk Coordinator make sure students in our school can get fresh, cold milk. Milk Moover roles and responsibilities: List the roles your Milk Moover will do here. For example Load milk into the fridge when the dairy order arrives Collect milk orders from each classroom Input hard copy milk orders into the online ordering system Set up the concession stand just before lunchtime Run the concession stand Roll coins Skills needed to be a Milk Moover: List the qualities and skills your Milk Moover will do here. For example O r g a n i z e d Responsible C r e a t i v e A team player Benefits of being a Milk Moover: List some of the key benefits your Milk Moover will do here. For example Gain work experience build your leadership skills Get to know other students

Contact us School Milk Help Desk 1 888 730 MILK (6455) Email schoolmilk@dfc-plc.ca Web MilkinSchool.ca