Students at East Millbrook Magnet Middle School and Centennial Magnet Middle School heard Britney Christian and the rock band Ready Set Go! sing the praises of milk in concerts at the schools Thursday.
At East Millbrook Middle students earned their way into attending the concert with passing grades and good behavior. As a school using the Positive Behavior Support program, administrators determined this would be a great way of rewarding students who met these expectations.
“Our kids had a great time,” said principal Andrew Livengood. “We are very grateful to the folks in Child Nutrition Services for making this happen for our students.”
Each school received an Epiphone guitar from the Gibson Guitar Company, one of the events sponsors, for agreeing to host the events.
The musical milk messages were helping students to think about nutrition and the benefits of drinking milk. Milk is available to students in all Wake County Public School System cafeterias. Milk is a healthy alternative to soft drinks which have been removed from all WCPSS middle schools and limited in high schools.
The concerts were brought to the schools by PET Dairy and Milk Rocks!, a multifaceted school campaign that promotes the benefits of milk as a healthy alternative to sugar-based drinks. Milk Rocks! is a student-focused marketing initiative developed by New York-based MilkMedia, a pioneer in communicating with elementary, middle and high school students, and Evergreen Packaging, the nation’s largest producer of school milk cartons. The campaign stresses the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle and promotes drinking milk in paperboard packaging.
This high-profile effort to promote a healthy lifestyle among school-age children comes at a time when obesity in teens is at an all-time high. Currently, sugar-based drinks are being replaced with healthier beverages in schools across the country. Research has shown that schools can increase milk consumption by providing colorful and interactive milk cartons, offering a variety of flavors, and incorporating some simple marketing.
Christian serves as the spokesperson for Milk Rocks! She is a 19-year-old Ventura, California native whose songs have been featured on television and radio. The band consists of three brothers who play the drums, bass and guitar, and their sister who is the lead singer.