The Discover Dairy Teacher Advisory Committee is a carefully curated group of passionate educators who serve as the authentic voice of the classroom in shaping the future of Discover Dairy and the Adopt A Cow program. The committee exists to ensure that every lesson, resource, and communication we create is grounded in the real-world needs, experiences, and creativity of the teachers who bring dairy education to life every day. By fostering a direct, ongoing partnership between educators and program staff, the committee helps Discover Dairy remain relevant, impactful, and joyful for students and teachers alike.
Meet Our Incredible Advisory Committee Members
Kindergarten
Sherwood, OH
More About Kim:
Kim has been teaching for 24 years in the Young Fives classroom at Fairview Elementary. Helping children learn and grow is important to her! She enjoys working with them through all the 5-year milestones. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, diamond painting, and reading. Her hobbies including spending time with her sisters, shopping, and spoiling her nieces and nephews.
6th Grade
Visalia, CA
More About Julie:
While not raised on a farm, Mrs. Cates has a passion for agriculture and has served on numerous ag education platforms including her local Farm Bureau, California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and the California Dairy Council. She believes it is vital that students not only understand where their food and fiber come from, but as sixth graders to become advocates for agriculture. Utilizing a variety of media and live/zoom conversations with Ag Industry partners she integrates agriculture into all subjects. Mrs. Cates thinks cows are so important, she has her students create a Dairy Mooseum to showcase the value of the dairy industry. Julie has participated in the “moovelous” Adopt-A-Cow program since 2017.
2nd Grade
Carlisle, PA
More About Kristina
Kristina Kimbark grew up on a sheep farm in Northern York County, where she tended orphaned lambs, giving each a name — Pebbles, Bam-Bam, George, Martha, and Charlie Brown among them. Though she no longer lives on a farm, that upbringing shaped her lifelong belief that children should understand where their food comes from.
As a second-grade teacher in the Carlisle Area School District, Kristina discovered Farm City Day at the Farm Show Complex, an experience that inspired her to partner with then-Secretary of Agriculture Denny Wolff to launch the first National Farm City Day at Bellaire Elementary. That same spirit of hands-on agricultural education continues in her classroom today, where students take part each year in the “Adopt a Calf” program, culminating in a virtual field trip to meet Farmer Katie and ask questions about their current calf.
Through these experiences, Kristina brings the farm-to-table journey to life for a new generation of students.
4th-8th Grade STEAM
North Charleston, SC
More About Molly
Mary “Molly” Myer is honored to serve on the Discover Dairy Teacher Advisory Board. With over 30 years of teaching experience, she currently teaches Science and STEAM classes at St. John Catholic School in North Charleston, SC. Molly has incorporated the Discover Dairy–Adopt‑A‑Cow program into her classroom for many years, and it has become a beloved learning experience for her students. As a Green Steps school, St. John benefits from the way the program naturally supports their environmental and agricultural education goals.
Molly is passionate about researching and bringing a wide variety of curricula and hands‑on programs to her students. She looks forward to contributing her experience, learning from fellow educators, and supporting the committee in every way she can.
Kindergarten & STEM
Denham Springs, LA
More About Karen
Karen Kelley Parrino earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Louisiana State University and later completed a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, along with 30 additional graduate hours, a Teacher Leader Endorsement, and a Reading Specialist Certification.
She has taught kindergarten in Watson, Louisiana for 25 years and has contributed to statewide educational initiatives as a Teacher Leader Advisor for the Louisiana Department of Education. She served on the Louisiana Student Standards for Science Workgroup and Steering Committee, as well as the ELA Standards Revision Committee.
Karen has been recognized as the Louisiana Science Teachers Association’s Elementary Science Teacher of the Year (2015–2016) and Louisiana Ag in the Classroom Elementary Teacher of the Year (2017). She was also a state finalist for the Norman Saurage Service Award in 2016.
In 2026, she earned her STEM Certification and is a National Board-Certified Teacher. She is passionate about integrating STEM, science, agriculture, and real-world learning into her curriculum and loves creating engaging experiences that inspire her students to wonder, explore, question, and discover.
2nd Grade
Wausau, WI
More About April
As she begins her 15th year as an elementary teacher, she is excited to join Discover Dairy’s Teacher Advisory Committee. During her years teaching on the East Coast, she loved bringing back Wisconsin cheese curds each Christmas for her students to sample—fitting for someone with deep Wisconsin roots, where both of her parents grew up on dairy farms. She has enjoyed integrating Discover Dairy’s resources into her classroom and recently moved back to Wisconsin, where she spends her free time hiking, kayaking, and taking photos.
She loves seeing her students’ excitement as they interact with their host farm and participate in the Adopt A Cow activities. She looks forward to working with the committee to continue providing children with high‑quality learning resources that are both fun and impactful.
7th Grade & High School
Melbourne, FL
More About Melissa
Melissa is a Nationally Board- Certified Science Teacher at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Economics from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from George Mason University. Prior to becoming a teacher, she worked as an Agriculture Economist/Statistician in Morocco, Egypt, Grenada, and Bolivia. Melissa has taught in both private and public schools in Grenada, Barbados, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and the United States. She was named a semi-finalist for the NSTA Shell Science Teaching Award and was selected the Florida Association of Science Teacher’s Outstanding Middle School Science Teacher. Melissa serves as a Teacher Leader for Nourish the Future, a Teacher Liaison for the Space Foundation, an Educator Ambassador for the Aldrin Family Foundation, a Limitless Space Institute Education Ambassador, and a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.
4th Grade
Quarryville, PA
More About Maria
Maria Young’s roots in agriculture run deep. Raised on a farm, she now lives on her family’s fifth-generation farm in Southern Lancaster County. With over twenty years of teaching experience, Maria is passionate about connecting her elementary students to the farming community around them. She believes students should understand and appreciate the animals, people, and work behind the farms they see every day. Her students eagerly participate in Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program and look forward to hatching chicks and ducks each spring. Maria attends the Educator’s Agricultural Institute each summer, where she discovers engaging new ways to bring farm-to-classroom learning to her students. Her dedication to ag education was recognized when she was named the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. She is honored and excited to continue supporting agricultural education as a member of Discover Dairy’s Advisory Committee.
