Tomorrow’s Leaders Today (TLT) partnered with Sonoma County Farm Bureau to support the organization’s agriculture program. Nearly 100 juniors from high schools from Sonoma County participated in Agriculture Day.
Through connections with local farms and businesses in Sonoma County, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau introduces Tomorrow’s Leaders Today students to the diversity of local agriculture.
“We are proud to be a long-standing partner with Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,” said Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Tawny Tesconi. “During Agriculture Day students learn from our farmers about crops, livestock and land sustainability.”
This year, students started the day meeting leaders from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, Hector’s Honey and Costeaux French Bakery. Then, they loaded a bus and toured McClelland’s Dairy, Bodega Bay Oyster Company and DMS Ranch where students learned about sustainable farming practices, multi-generational business operations and crop rotations.
At the end of the day American AgCredit facilitated an interactive group activity where teams presented a mock business plan to a panel of loan officers and competed for a $1 million loan for the agriculture business or service.
One TLT student learned that “there is more to the agriculture industry than just farming and cattle; there are many different careers involved.”
After spending the day together another said, “I learned that agriculture is extremely important, especially in Sonoma County.”
“Investing in the next generation of leaders and showing these students that to be in agriculture doesn’t just mean working on a farm or ranch. Agriculture is the number one economy driver in Sonoma County and comes in many forms including tourism, food products, marketing, technology and of course ag financial services,” said American AgCredit regional marketing manager Summer Jeffus.
TLT is a community education and leadership skills training program for students entering their junior year in high school throughout Sonoma County. Emphasizing hands-on learning, critical thinking and communication, TLT students get an inside look at their community and its issues, meet decision-makers, solve problems and discover how Sonoma County works.
TLT is a program of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County. For more information about Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, visit tomorrowsleaderstoday.org.
-Submitted by Kevin Ross
