When offered the opportunity by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association to spend the day with over 70 middle school students participating in a Fuel Up to Play 60 Beyond the Field Youth Summit at Heinz Field how can you say no?!?!
So last Tuesday, my husband, Clayton, and I left the rest of our chores in the hands of our farm employees and drove south to Pittsburgh to spend our day with the youth participating in the Fuel Up to Play 60 event. This opportunity was amazing to see first hand how the Fuel Up to Play 60 program impacts our youth, schools and the football teams that they work with.
As the day began I had the opportunity to welcome the youth participating in the Fuel Up to Play 60 event and shared our story as dairy farmers and supporters of the program. As the day continued we listened as former Steelers’ quarterback, Charlie Batch gave the keynote address, a panel discussion with staff from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and watched as former Steelers defensive lineman, Chris Hoke taught the youth new exercises. These activities gave the students the opportunity to ask the former players questions along with the staff. Watching the youth interact with such distinguished athletes and talented professionals with the Steelers.
The middle school students then worked in groups to create their own songs about the Fuel Up to Play 60 program. This is where Clayton and I truly got to see the impact that this program has on the youth participating in the program. The students were excited about the activity and they were sure to include positive health benefits of milk in their songs. Each of the teams worked hard to create a song and even included dances or motions into their songs showing that they truly cared about the event.
As a dairy farmer and mother, I am a proud supporter of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program because it empowers students to take charge in making small, everyday changes in their schools and communities. Attending the event was very rewarding for us because we able to see our contributions to the program at work.
The great thing about the day was that this event landed on March 15 – National Agriculture Day! I couldn’t think of a better way to spend that day then sharing our story with youth and watching them grow through a program that we are apart of!
While most of you can probably recognize or at least pick out Clayton and I, we are the two that do not look like football players, I will go ahead and caption this for those that might not be able to! Former Steelers defensive lineman, Chris Hoke, Renée, Clayton, and former Steelers’ quarterback, Charlie Batch.
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