Students receive Ukiah Garden Club scholarships
On Wednesday, Feb. 8, the Ukiah Garden Club was excited to award scholarships to Jordi Velasquez and Caiden Magdeleno, students at South Valley High School and who are concurrently taking classes at Mendocino College.
Recommended to the club by Kurt Voigt, the head of the Mendocino College Horticulture Department, both Caiden and Jordi exemplify the type of student the club likes to recognize. The club's scholarship goal is to award students who have shown interest in pursuing a career in agriculture. Over the last two years, they have taken classes and worked in the college's gardens in pursuit of these careers.
Ukiah Garden Club members had an opportunity to ask both students about their goals during our February meeting. It was obvious to the membership how dedicated Jordi and Caiden were to their future careers, including a desire to create landscapes and work with plants.
Caiden and Jordi are part of South Valley High School's Big Picture program, a student-centered approach to learning. Big Picture Schools (https:// www.bigpicture.org/) are found in the United States and several other countries
providing a ground-breaking alternative education program. Working with community leaders, local businesses and professionals, family and fellow students, Big Picture Ukiah encourages students to complete a local internship while working with a mentor. This real-life experience follows their interests and provides a purpose for learning. In addition, students create projects representing their knowledge and experience and its real life application.
Through the Big Picture Ukiah program, internships have been available at several local businesses and organizations including Airport Barbershop, Canova Records, Coyote Valley Landscape Project, Mendocino College Horticulture,
Menton Builders, School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education (SPACE), Stained Glass, Ukiah Animal Shelter, Ukiah Unified School District, Yokayo State Preschool, and the Youth Action Project, to name a few. For more information for potential mentors, contact Kris Swett, South Valley High School principal, at 707-472-5150.
The Ukiah Garden Club was established to promote and encourage interest in garden floriculture. The scholarship program has been a cornerstone of the club's outreach and education. We hold meetings with a guest speaker on the second Wednesday of the month, open to the public, September through May at noon at 1203 W. Clay St.