The New Ag School

Specific Need

Creating a sustainable workforce: Think Outside 2024

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” At The New Ag School, we believe in teaching the next generation and this is learning through Environmental Science, Agriculture, and Mentorship is at the core of The New Ag School’s teaching methodology, approach, and mission.

In 2019, we started our Mentors Training Program, where we train people in the agriculture industry how to efficiently transfer their skillset and knowledge to their employees or co-workers. With the success of this program, we have been doing it annually. With our program for young adults, Think Outside, the Mentors Program has gained even more importance, as they are the ones to lead some of the sessions and can also provide internship and job placement opportunities to young adults, including high schoolers, after completing the program.

This 2024, we have the objective of keeping teaching the youth and growing the farmers of Loudoun County. The Think Outside Program is coming back this Spring Break and this Summer.

What makes this program unique is the approach and methodology. We believe in education through mentoring. A mentor farmer employs and trains our future agribusiness leaders. Working side-by-side with their mentor, mentees come away with a greater appreciation for all that farmers and rural business owners accomplish for themselves, their businesses, and the larger community. With dedicated first-hand training and insight, mentees acquire a wealth of knowledge and an invaluable skill set that can be applied to many different agricultural settings. Through NAS, they truly have the opportunity to be the future agribusiness leaders of Loudoun County. The program participants become competent stewards who embody the culture of sustainability through their experience in the learning program.

This learning model englobes all the needs and demands of today’s agricultural and farming challenges. The curriculum developed balances theoretical “book” knowledge and real-world, hands-on, relevant skills.

But to keep sustaining our programs, we need support and funds, specifically to pay a stipend to our mentors for leading our Think Outside program this spring. After completing the Think Outside program, the young people will be workforce ready and equipped with skills for their respective internship and job placements in the Ag-focused businesses in Loudoun County and also have the potential to become mentors and educate the next batch of learners.

Mission

The New Ag School seeks to develop a workforce for the rural economy through mentoring, programming, experiential learning and advocacy.

Agri-business Education:

Farming
Value Added Production
Agri-tourism
Hospitality
Mentoring/Leadership

NAS is dedicated to training individuals to be equipped, skilled and passionate about working the land and relating with consumers as a career.

We are also committed to the continuous training of our trainers/mentors.

Profile

In today’s increasingly urbanized society, many individuals aren’t exposed to the meaningful work of simple gardening, farming, raising animals, or other agri-business activities. In fact, a substantial portion of young Americans are not being “handed down” the traditions of an agriculture based economy, which are vital to our economy.

The New Ag School (NAS) is working to change that in Loudoun County. NAS is an innovative hands-on program dedicated to raising up leaders who understand, appreciate and can do the work needed to support agribusiness today and into the future. NAS provides exposure to authentic farm industry, as well as an introduction of what it takes to run a business – whether a winery, bed and breakfast, or farm.

In order to make a greater impact and expand it outreach, The New Ag School has partnered with Legacy Farms, another organization that uses agriculture as a medium to empower neurodiverse individuals.