On May 8, 2018, the 10^th Annual Kinders go to College event, sponsored by the USDA Hispanic Serving Institutions National Program and the Yolo County Office of Education, was held at Woodland Community College in Woodland, CA. About 150 kindergarten students (high school Class of 2030) and 100 junior high and high school mentors from Woodland and the rural community of Esparto participated in a host of interactive, educational workshops designed to introduce them to Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics (STEAM) fields.

Staff and affiliates of the USDA-ARS Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit (CPGRU), Davis, CA, led three hands-on workshops (Drink like a Grapevine, What’s up Down Under: Life in the Soil, and Rice is Nice: From the Field to Your Plate) for the students. This was the 3^rd time Davis Location research units have participated in this rewarding and fun opportunity to connect with and inspire future scientists and stakeholders. Students learned how grapevines take up water from Matt Jenkins, UC Davis graduate student in the lab of Dr. Andrew McElrone, in their workshop Drink like a Grapevine.

Students learned how grapevines take up water from Matt Jenkins, UC Davis graduate student in the lab of Dr. Andrew McElrone, in their workshop Drink like a Grapevine. 

Students learned about the various microbes in the soil and made models of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in Dr. Amisha Poret-Peterson and Dr. Kerri Steenwerth’s workshop What’s up Down Under: Life in the Soil.

In their workshop Rice is Nice: From the Field to Your Plate, Dr. Tom Tai and his colleagues Sarah Magee and Dr. HyunJung Kim (UC Davis) described how rice seeds are processed and students got a chance to make brown and milled rice.

CPRGU Research Leader Dr. Daniel Kluepfel looks on and ponders whether the hiring freeze will be rescinded in time to recruit members of the class of 2030 for positions in ARS.