WSU Sparks Program Ignites Interest in Ag Careers

According to USDA statistics, for every one person who graduates with a degree in ag, there are three to four jobs available. To address this Washington State University's Spark program is igniting interest among high school students by showing the opportunities of rewarding and profitable jobs in ag. WSU College of Agricultural, Human, Natural Resource Sciences Assistant Director of Recruitment and Retention Kari Sampson says

Sampson: "The intention was really to meet the students where they were at. We brought different people on board to do that — we key brought current CAHNRS students that could talk to them about their experience, and why they chose to come to college and why that was a benefit to them. We also had the pleasure of working with Stemilt Growers. They kindly opened up their facility to us and we were able to take the students around and tour them. So they could see there were opportunities in Human Resources, Engineering and the science behind agriculture — so lots of different ways other than what they thought or had put ag in a box. Then in addition to that we worked with our Research and Extension Center and really allowed the students to practice with their hands — really get hands-on learning with the science behind agriculture. So I hope we ignited their interest, sparked their interest in what agriculture can offer them as a future."

This is a pilot program, and CANHRS hopes to expand it around the state with partnership other ag sectors to bring awareness to students of the many exciting career opportunities in agriculture.