Program Advisor:
Elizabeth Orozco-Wittke
(209) 575-6795
orozcowittkee@mjc.edu

The Modesto Junior College Agriculture & Environmental Sciences Program has been a participant in the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS) Program since 1987. This two-year program offers technical education, job training, and leadership skills development to young adults and leaders from communities of Central America and the Caribbean. Some of the fields of studies that have been pursued include: food production/food processing, forestry, agricultural science, and agricultural business with emphasis on import/export. The goal of the program is to prepare students to return home with personal, academic, and technical skills which will enable them to continue to grow professionally, share the benefits of their training with others, and make positive contributions to the development of their countries.

In addition, the department partnered with the Japan Agricultural Exchange Council to host students from Japan that are part of a Japanese agriculture training program. Depending upon the program, these students attend MJC for six to twelve weeks. Most students in this program receive training in horticulture, fruit tree production and agriculture business.

The opportunity for these international students to attend MJC is a benefit for them as well as for the local MJC agriculture students. The opportunity to find out first hand what agriculture production in other countries is all about as well as to learn about other cultures is invaluable.