_{Photos by Aisling Bludworth}

Robyn Payne had a hand in agriculture from the day she could pick up a shovel.

Her father was an agriculture teacher and she grew up on a dairy. These days she follows in her father’s footsteps and teaches agriculture at Sunset High School.

Through her work at Sunset, she has been nominated for the Agricultural Educator of the Year award from the California Future Farmers of America Foundation, the California Farm Bureau, in collaboration with Nationwide Insurance.

Payne has been the heart of Sunset’s agriculture education since beginning her involvement in 2016. Sunset High School is the only continuation school in California with an FFA program currently, said Payne. Part of the reason that other continuation schools lack an FFA program is due to the short timeline on education, according to Payne. While typical high schools admit their students for four years, continuation schools like Sunset often get their students for two years before graduation.

The agriculture program at Sunset touches many lives, including those of the younger students that take field trips to the school site during the spring and fall. The third and fifth graders that attend field trips to Sunset get involved with agriculture through the small storefronts set up behind the school in the style of an old western town.

The older students at Sunset will collaborate with Payne to create an agricultural experience that the younger students will visit during their field trips. A hot chocolate stand, instead of consisting of handing out hot chocolate, explains the process from sprout to serving of how the hot chocolate is made in addition to giving the students hot chocolate. In addition to the hot chocolate stand, there are rabbitry, veterinary care, and beekeeping to name a few.

The FFA program has touched the lives of Del Norte residents deeply, both through our rural roots and on a very personal level. Payne recalls a story of a young man in her program,

“All of the men in his family are in prison for drugs, or for violence related things and that was his plan for the future as well. He ended up being the FFA president because he is a natural leader, and then he went to college instead [of going to prison.]”

This is not a fluke, but a feature of the program, as Sunset High Principal Tony Fabricius has attested.

“It’s amazing watching them blossom and shine in so many ways that aren’t test scores or touchdowns or dunking a basketball […] they didn’t know the opportunity was open to them.”

The FFA Program has taught students skills that are applicable outside the classroom and the agricultural sphere as well as how to raise goats. Payne has taught skills that will help the students land job interviews alongside soil chemistry, with an emphasis on practical education.

“A couple years ago we had an Ag Sales team, and that was all about selling a product. Now, it was an agriculturally focused product, but the skills the kids are gaining, the public speaking, the being able to think on the fly […] you can translate that to so many different things.” Payne said.

“I want kids to be able to finish their time within FFA and then be able to go out and do something with it. Go be a whole human in whatever capacity that is. We do a ton of traveling, and sure they’re seeing college campuses and they’re seeing all of these other things but they are also learning how to behave in a hotel room. How to order food at a restaurant, which I know seems like a simple skill but there have been plenty of times where kids sit down then look up at us like ‘What do I do?’” she continued.

Payne will receive a plaque and a $500 check in front of fellow teachers, students, and supporters at the 2026 State FFA Leadership Conference in Ontario on Saturday. At this conference, all six finalists will go through rounds of interviews to be considered for the Golden Owl Award and an additional $3,000. 

“I’m hoping that by having a continuation school get statewide representation or acknowledgement, that maybe it will open up the door for more schools to be doing (FFA programs.),” she said. “If more schools are doing it, then hopefully we can meld some of those gaps and more schools get involved, because the kids at continuation schools flourish in FFA.”