Albuquerque Public Schools
APS Students Trade Screens for Soil in Summer Agriculture Internship
Program expands to three high schools, teaching real-world skills and professional development through community farm partnerships.
CORRALES —This summer, a group of students from Albuquerque Public Schools traded screens for soil, sunshine and professional development.
On a recent Tuesday, students harvested crates of tomatoes before carefully trellising the remaining plants. The tomatoes they picked that morning were headed to food pantries, but other food the students harvested will actually end up in cafeterias at APS schools.
The agriculture-nutrition internship program, now in its fifth year, is transforming the summer experience for students from Rio Grande, Sandia and Valley High Schools. Led by Rio Grande High School teacher Janet Delgado, the initiative offers participants a blend of hands-on agricultural work, career-readiness training and a paycheck.
“It’s an internship program that basically works throughout the community and gives kids work-based learning experience,” Delgado said. “We teach work-based learning skills, and they also get experience in agriculture, culinary nutrition and the behind-the-scenes of businesses, like farmers’ markets.”
This year, 33 students participated, with 20 from Rio Grande, eight from Sandia and five from Valley. The students earned $15 an hour for 20 hours a week, a compensation package made possible through a collaboration between the New Mexico Public Education Department, state Legislature and the governor, and Bernalillo County.
The program, which Delgado describes as a community effort, relies on a patchwork of funding. While state and county funds cover student wages, the program’s adult supervisors are paid through a combination of school principal support and community partner contributions.
For students like recent graduate Camila Salinas, the program has been a bridge to the future.
“It’s really nice being outdoors,” said Salinas, who is heading to Central New Mexico Community College to study cosmetology. “It’s given me social skills, and it’s taught me how to talk to people more.”
The curriculum extends far beyond gardening. Students participate in career-readiness labs, learning the practical mechanics of the workforce: writing resumes, filling out W-2 and I-9 tax forms, and advocating for themselves in professional settings.
The program also offers glimpses into various career pathways, from food service management at Isotope Stadium to specialized agricultural business models. For many, the work is a revelation.
“I like to get my hands dirty,” said Nadia Rodriguez, a senior at Rio Grande High School. “It’s just good to learn things that you need to know. It teaches you about real-world stuff.”
The benefits are far reaching.
Some of the produce harvested by students at local farms will be served in APS cafeterias, allowing students to see their labor directly impact their peers’ lunch plates. Other produce the students helped grow in partnership with Seed to Need will go to food pantries to help families who are struggling.
“The community loves working with the students,” Delgado noted. “These students will, in turn, have a full-circle moment. Cafeterias will be serving what these students have harvested this summer.”
As the program looks to expand, educators like Dominic Taylor, an educational assistant who has worked alongside Delgado for five years, hope the model will continue to grow.
“It brings the kids out of their shells,” Taylor said. “They learn what’s right here in their own community.”
For students like sophomore Elijah Armijo, the program provides more than just a paycheck for meals and clothes — it provides direction. Armijo, who hopes to pursue a career in construction, sees the program as a vital step in learning to balance hard work with life skills.
“I appreciate this job,” said Fabian Ramirez, a 10th-grade student who plans to enter a trade school for plumbing or electrical work. “We work as a team.”
Delgado said community support makes the program possible.
“We are deeply grateful for the year-round support of NM 2050, the program management provided by Education at Work under the NMPED, and the steadfast advocacy of Commissioner Frank Baca and Ciudad SWCD for agricultural education,” she said. “It truly takes a community to make this program thrive."