Village Nurseries scholarship awarded to local Ag student

ESCONDIDO – As the next generation of agriculturists work their way through college and find their place in the job market, there are always a few rising stars who stand out.

Maggie Maratsos, a Fallbrook High School graduate starting her third year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo this fall, has been one of those standouts since early in her high school career and has continued momentum, enthusiasm and promise ever since.

Maratsos, an Environmental Horticulture Sciences major who received a 2010 San Diego County Farm Bureau (SDCFB) scholarship, has been selected to also receive the Village Nurseries Tom House Memorial Scholarship by SDCFB’s Scholarship Committee.

Maratsos thrived throughout her four years of high school FFA and has continued in collegiate FFA at Cal Poly. She credits her Ag teachers at Fallbrook High with pointing her in the right direction and helping to develop her leadership skills and personal growth.

“They were such motivating, positive influences that I always felt encouraged to try new things,” said Maratsos, who plans to carry that inspiration forward after she earns her Master’s in Agricultural Sciences and a teaching credential to reach her career goal of becoming a high school agriculture teacher.

Maratsos has been a regular on the Cal Poly Dean’s Honor List and earned her FFA American Degree last year, while also continuing her high school marching/concert/jazz band pursuits playing the flute on Cal Poly’s Marching Band, Pride of the Pacific.

The Village Nurseries Tom House Memorial Scholarship is one of several named scholarship funds established through the San Diego County Farm Bureau Scholarship Program, which enables businesses in the community to show their support for education, youth and agriculture.

Village Nurseries, which was established in 1976 and operates in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties as well as in the Sacramento area. Through scholarships and its recognition of Village Nurseries founder Tom House, the nursery hopes its support of ag youth education will bring some of that talent to their door as future employees.

“The California University system prepares students well for the working world, and we have benefited from the talent and enthusiasm those graduates bring to our business,” said Mike Babineau, Village Nurseries’ Vice President of Southern Operations. “We have hired many Cal Poly graduates over the years—from both San Luis Obispo and Pomona—and we area always impressed with their intelligence, character, and fresh ideas. It’s an important investment in the next generation of workers.”