For 30 Georgia high school students, the first Georgia Youth Institute was an invitation to think beyond their own communities and imagine how their education could help solve some of the world’s most urgent food security challenges. 

Hosted by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), the inaugural institute brought students to campus for two days of research presentations, hands-on learning and conversations with experts in agriculture, food, natural resources and global development. 

High school students tackle global food security issues

Before arriving, each student completed a Global Challenge Paper, selecting a country outside the United States and researching a food, agriculture or natural resources issue affecting its people. Topics ranged from climate change and malnutrition to fisheries, public health, infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and policy. 

During the institute, students presented their work in roundtable discussions modeled after the Global Youth Institute, held each year during the World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue in Iowa. The top three Georgia students will advance to the global event, where they will join students, researchers and leaders from around the world. 

For Jaky Cervantes Childers, who organized the Georgia program through the CAES Office of Academic Affairs, the institute is designed to help students see the full extent of their potential. 

“We have incredibly talented students across Georgia,” Childers said. “However, many lack the opportunities to showcase their talents, especially in rural Georgia.” 

Participants came from all over the state, including many from rural communities. 

Childers encouraged students to choose countries they felt connected to through family ties, ancestry, travel, culture or personal interest. Making those connections helps students move beyond abstract thinking and begin understanding how global challenges affect real people. 

The program also gave students a glimpse of college life and research at UGA. Participants stayed overnight on campus, toured parts of Athens, joined a student panel and took part in hands-on learning opportunities with CAES faculty and graduate students. 

Georgia Youth Institute prepares future leaders

Childers said the institute helps students imagine futures they may not have considered. 

Recruitment for next year’s Georgia Youth Institute begins July 1, and Childers is developing classroom materials to help teachers incorporate the cross-curricular Global Challenge Paper into Career, Technical and Agricultural Education and other courses, including environmental science, biology and social studies.   

For Childers, a former agriculture education teacher and a 2017 CAES graduate, the goal is to give students a platform, connect them with experts and let them see how far their ideas can go. 

“The Georgia Youth Institute allows students to see the connection between agriculture and food security and sustainability,” she said. “This is about immersing students in topics that directly impact people’s lives, here in the U.S. and all over the world.”