AGtivate

On a hot, sunny day in late August, new students in the College of Agriculture arrived at the University Farm for a day full of bonding, education, and an introduction to Chico State. 

This event, titled Agtivate, symbolized the new experiences these students would have and was developed during spring of 2022 by Denise Crosswhite. Funding was secured through the University, and the orientation program came to life. 

Crosswhite created an application process and recruited her team of six students to plan and execute each individual section of the orientation. These students were Claire Broaddus, Delaney Sarantopulus, Flor Ibarra, Karla Ahumada, Logan Lee, and Michelle Borges. 

This team of six, along with Denise, worked tirelessly to make sure each section of the event was planned perfectly and ready to go for the day of. 

“Agtivate was created to help provide a solid foundation for our new students to build upon during their time at Chico State. Already we have seen an increase in visits to the Student Success and Retention office from our first-year and transfer students,” Crosswhite said. 

On August 19, the day of Agtivate, the team of coordinators and all the student facilitators who signed up to lead groups of new students arrived at the farm. The excitement and nerves were high as attendees arrived. 

The day began with the placement of students with a student facilitator to do some icebreaker activities to get to know the other attendees. As soon as every attendee had arrived, the event officially got underway. 

The event began with an introduction from Dean Patricia Stock, Crosswhite, and the six coordinators of the event. After that, the first activities began, as the students were put into teams and sent out on a farm scavenger hunt to let them learn about our farm. 

The scavenger hunt led into the second activity of the day, Farm Jeopardy, where the students tested their knowledge of the farm from what they had learned and to show their competitive side. 

After this came lunch, which was generously sponsored by Golden State Farm Credit and served by the Young Cattlemen’s’ Association. 

Following lunch, students were sorted into panel groups by major and heard from faculty and students about each specific major and had their questions answered about Chico State. 

To wrap up the day, attendees heard from the Student Success and Retention Office on how to succeed best in college and where to go to get their questions answered.  

“As a coordinator, I enjoyed every aspect of this event. I was able to connect with new students to ensure that they felt comfortable to begin their college journey. I look forward to Agtivate to become an annual event for the College of Agriculture,” Sarantopulus said. 

Written by Claire Broaddus