Santa Barbara County STEM Career Day
Santa Maria School District students touring Plantel Nurseries
On Wednesday, June 18th, SEEAG hosted the Santa Barbara County STEM Career Day!
We started off the afternoon by welcoming over 40 students from local high schools, Allan Hancock College, and Cal Poly, SLO to the Mark Richardson CTE Center & Ag Farm in Santa Maria.
The SEEAG Team welcomed all of the students, gave an overview of the day and passed it onto our industry professionals. Steve Gambril gave a warm introduction of the Mark Richardson CTE Center, explained their programs & courses, and the students took a tour of the classrooms and on-site farm. Following that, Erin & Nick from Allan Hancock College introduced the students to their college & career pathway programs that they can pursue following high school graduation. We ended off the introduction with lunch for the students.
Farm Tours
Following lunch, we hopped on the bus and headed to our first stop, Plantel Nurseries in Santa Maria. Stephen of Plantel gave us a tour of the greenhouses, shared his expertise in the industry, and provided career guidance to the students. Students learned about various careers in the industry including field operators, production manager, distribution coordinator, quality control manager, and more. Thank you to Plantel Nurseries for hosting!
Our second stop was at Rancho Laguna Farms. We visited the berry producing farm and met with Brett Ferini. Brett gave us a tour of their growing fields, talked to us about the importance of careers in agriculture, and shared his experience in college and beyond. Students even got to taste the strawberries that were ready to be harvested. Students also learned about careers in agronomy, field operations, research & development, and many more careers. Thank you to Rancho Laguna Farms for hosting!
Career Round Robin
Following the tours we headed back to Mark Richardson CTE Center where we had representatives from the industry welcoming the group back. The students rotated between the groups of each of the businesses and farms in attendance. They learned from the industry professionals about different career opportunities. Thank you to the following companies for joining us for the career fair:
AgWest Farm Credit (Banking)
Allan Hancock College (Education)
Babe Farms (Farming)
Engel & Grey (Compost)
Reiter Affiliated Companies (Farming)
Santa Barbara Foundation (Outreach)
Santa Rita Hills Lavender Farm (Farming)
Thank you to every student, company, and guest who joined us for the STEM Career Day! We look forward to connecting students to different career pathways in agriculture for years to come.
