On April 16, more than 25 community members toured the Rancho Cielo campus as guests of the Annual Partnership Fund (APF) Committee and its passionate Team Captains. RC Founder Judge John Phillips and CEO Chris Devers kicked off the tour with a brief history of our origins, growth and impactful work accomplished over the past 25 years. The tour is a pivotal part of the campaign, which emphasizes the importance of engaging community engagement via public and private partnerships. It is also the best way to see the magic of Rancho Cielo firsthand.
Rancho Cielo’s APF campaign is an annual peer-to-peer fundraising effort designed to ensure the sustainability of our vocational programs that support workforce development. The campaign runs from March through June, with APF teams aiming to raise public awareness of Rancho Cielo and secure funding for general operating needs, essential programs and projects, and various capital initiatives.
By walking the wings of our Ted Taylor Ag Vocational Center and observing students engaged in hands-on learning and skill building with their instructors, guests learned from Senior Director of College, Career & Career Technical Education Joseph DeRuosi how each of our Ag Technology & Mechatronics, Auto & Diesel Repair and Classic Car Restoration, Welding & Fabrication and Construction & Sustainable Design programs work.
Rancho Cielo Board Chair and APF Team Captain Pete Scudder provided an overview of the net-zero, sustainable home built by our Construction & Sustainable Design Academy students, which won first place overall in the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon. As the only high school students competing against top collegiate engineering teams from around the world, it was an incredible experience and achievement—one made possible through the support of Scudder and other local industry partners of Rancho Cielo, who generously contributed their time, mentored the participating students, donated materials and more.
The tour concluded in our Drummond Culinary Academy (DCA) dining room, where culinary students prepared and served a beautiful two-course lunch and DCA General Manager Wanda Straw, Executive Chef Estevan Jimenez and Front-of-House Instructor and Event Manager Laura Nicola gave an overview of the program and its popular Friday Night Dinners (a microenterprise component to give students real experience serving the public on Friday evenings).
“We want to provide every available opportunity to all [Rancho Cielo] students to make sure their lives are successful moving forward,” APF Chair Don Chapin explained. “Help us continue to offer opportunities that no other high school that I know of on the planet is offering.”
Thanks to ongoing and new partnerships with compassionate community members, Rancho Cielo can continue to design and implement comprehensive services and programs that support our youth.
Learn more about Rancho Cielo’s Annual Partnership Fund and how you can get involved.
