Band Winners Drink Milk

Over 200,000 music students get the message that ‘winners drink milk’ throughout the year thanks to Indiana dairy farmers’ sponsorship of Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) events. The sponsorship is coordinated by American Dairy Association Indiana. ISSMA holds the finest marching band contest in the nation according to the judges from all across the country who were in Indianapolis for the recent Marching Band State Finals.

While dairy farmers were milking and working on the farm, their check-off program was also at work. Milk commercials were played on the jumbo video boards in the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis during the 12-hour marching band competition. Nearly 30,000 spectators and performers viewed those spots.

Four Indiana high school marching bands won $1,000 scholarships from Indiana’s dairy farmers plus a drink from the victory bottle of milk for their championship performances at the 2013 ISSMA Marching Band State Finals. Each school took top honors in its division. The winners were: in class A, the Avon Marching Black and Gold; in class B, the Greenwood Band and Irish Guard; in class C, the Concordia Lutheran Marching Cadets; and in class D, the Forest Park Marching Rangers. Each member of each competing band also received an ice-cold pint of white, chocolate, or strawberry milk after their performance. Prairie Farms Dairy donated the milk served to the band members.

“I’m proud of the students and impressed with their dedication and focus,” said Deb Osza, the general manager of ADAI. “Each and every one of those band students is a winner.”

The check-off’s partnership with ISSMA helps showcase the role of dairy products in the lives of active teenagers.

“Teaching kids how to include at least 3 servings of dairy every day in their diets, in addition to physical activity, will help them develop stronger bones and a healthy lifestyle,” Osza said. “We want them to learn that when they put good energy into their bodies, they get good energy out. We’re working hard to keep milk messages in our schools. Indiana’s dairy check-off program works efficiently and effectively by getting those milk messages in through music education as well as in the classroom and the cafeteria.”

Additional $1,000 scholarships are awarded annually to the state champion schools in concert band, mixed chorus, orchestra and state show choir finals by Indiana’s Dairy Farmers, exclusive corporate sponsor of all ISSMA events.

Source: American Dairy Association Indiana