Sonoma Valley ag students explore Benziger winery

Sophomores enrolled in Sonoma Valley High Schools’ new sustainable agriculture academy visited the Benziger Family Winery as part of a performance task examining sustainable farming practices. Students had a chance to tour the Benziger property with viticulture technician Austin Lely and vineyard manager Jeffrey Landolt. Landolt gave the students a guided tour stopping at various locations on the property to explain the management philosophy and principles of the farm.

According to teacher Karling Skoglund, students got a deeper understanding of how what they are learning in their plant and soil science class as well as how their sustainable agriculture biology classes are connected with real farming practices.

Sophomore Francesca Pharo said, “The ag academy field trip to Benziger was very interesting and fun. As a kid very involved in animals, it opened my eyes to many more careers that are possibilities. We learned more about soil, compost, and water saving techniques. I really enjoyed the field trip and would love to do something like it again.”

The students will now take what they learned on their trip to create their own sustainable farm plan, and their plans will be presented to a panel of judges in late March. This performance task was created after academy agriculture teachers, Skoglund and Felicia Rush attended a one week summer externship at Benziger Winery with Landolt and Mark Burningham. The externship was organized by the high school’s work-based learning coordinator Wendy Swanson, with support from the Northern California Career Pathways Alliance.

“I love how we were able to make this great partnership with Benziger and turn it into an exciting project for our Academy students, they truly seem engaged in their learning,” said Skoglund.