It’s harvest time for the sweet potato project. A group of Fresno Students have spent the past year growing and then harvesting a crop of sweet potatoes.

For the young people who planted this crop in the spring seeing the springs grow and become sweet potatoes is a celebration of their hard work

They spent time in the field during the hot summer months tending to this crop. Now pulling them from the ground and getting them ready for market they realize just how much they’ve learned. 

The sweet potato project is a skilled based program designed to teach young people leadership and entrepreneurial skills through agriculture.

Fresno students from 6th grade to high school attend a four week workshop at Fresno State’s Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. They had to come up with a product using sweet potatoes and were taught how to market it.

A marketing plan that included pitching their product to a group of professionals. There were taste testers and a panel of judges who quizzed them on their marketing plans.