To increase student awareness of the diverse high-skill careers available in agriculture and to build a workforce pipeline for Sonoma County’s agriculture industry, CTE Foundation partnered with the Sonoma County Fair Foundation and Sonoma County Office of Education to facilitate the Innovate Ag Education Fellowship.  

The fellowship is a paid opportunity for teacher teams representing diverse disciplines – such as agriculture science and engineering – to research and develop new integrated curriculum that focuses on the use of technology in support of sustainable agriculture practices through a Sonoma County lens. Courses developed under this program are required to meet A-G credit certification standards (college preparatory) as well as standards for Agriculture-Natural Sciences and/or Engineering CTE Pathways. Once completed, courses are eligible to receive up to three-years of grant funding through CTE Foundation to launch implementation. 

The focus on “technology in agriculture” is an important one for a number of reasons, including the growth of tech-based solutions to manage resource inputs, harvesting and crop yields and, perhaps most importantly, tech’s power to attract a new generation of students who are interested in engineering, computer science and other technology-based fields to consider opportunities in the agriculture industry.