History – Delivering Dairy Programs

Jaydee Events have fostered a great working relationship with Dairy Australia over a 16 year period.

Dairy Australia’s Cows Create Careers project is nationally co-ordinated by John Hutchison and Deanne Kennedy, who were part of a small team who developed the program and curriculum in 2004 for South Gippsland. The Cows Create Careers – Farm Module has grown from 9 schools in 2004 to 240 in 2020 and is a national project.

In 2010, John and Deanne developed two more facets of curriculum on behalf of Dairy Australia − Cows Create Careers – Camembert in the Classroom and Cows Create Careers – Manufacturing Modules. These were developed to meet a different need and engage an older student cohort. The curriculum content was linked to Food Technology and Biology, allowing the dairy industry to engage with a larger cross-section of students. The Farm Module curriculum relates most significantly to Science and Agricultural studies.  These new projects took place in schools between the years 2010-2016 and involved over one hundred schools and 2,500 students each year.

Dairy Australia’s primary school programs, Picasso Cows and Picasso Cows Make-Over, were also created by and are co-ordinated by Jaydee. John and Deanne approached Dairy Australia in 2008 with the brief for the Picasso Cows program. Between the years 2008-2016 the Picasso Cows and Picasso Cows Make-Over were delivered to over 650 primary schools across Australia. The reach is very significant and in 2014 there were 20,882 students involved across all of Dairy Australia’s primary and secondary school projects across Australia. Dairy Australia converted to an online version of the program in 2019.

The over-arching pillars are:

• Industry Image
• Schools & Community Awareness
• Career Opportunities

The objectives across all of these Dairy Australia projects are to:

1. Expand young people’s awareness and knowledge about basic food origins and food production;

2. Showcase the variety of rewarding careers pathways that are on offer;

3. Demonstrate the technology and innovation in the industry;

4. Connect agriculture and science in the students’ minds, and

5. Showcase the industry’s proactive approach to sustainability and the environment.

Each year, Jaydee works with over 400 industry volunteers. These industry representatives volunteer their time to help support schools and students to learn about their industry. This trusted relationship broadens the community message and engenders community support and understanding of the industry. This is a unique of achievement of John and Deanne and grows year on year with broader community buy-in and participation.