WSU Working On Sparking An Interest in Ag

Earlier this month, 25 high school students from across the lower Yakima Valley visited several locations in and around Prosser to find out the possible careers in agriculture.  The effort was through Washington State University’s Spark program.  Kari Sampson, Academic Programs Managers at WSU’s College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources Sciences , said they want to make sure the next generation is ready to take over the reins of agriculture, however that looks.

“According to statistics right now there’s three to four open positions for every student that receives a major in an ag related area, so there are a lot of open positions and we want to make sure that we’re preparing out students to be ready to take those jobs.”

Sampson says students walked away surprised at the variety of options an ag degree offers.

“We wanted to bring them in with whatever their preconceived notions were and try to blow those up and provide them with an amazing landscape and tapestry of opportunities for them.”

Sampson said this is the second year of Spark.  Last year, they visited locations around Wenatchee, this year in Prosser.  She said they don’t know where they’ll visit next year, but she added the hope is the program grows in popularity so visits can take place more often.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com