Seed Your Future announces board updates, 2025 Cross-Curricular Career Lessons

Horticulture career nonprofit Seed Your Future has announced its new board president, an incoming board member and newly appointed committee volunteers who will begin their terms in January 2026, as well as its new 2025 Cross-Curricular Career Lessons for teachers.

Broch Martindale, national nursery & greenhouse strategic account manager at Corteva Agriscience, was unanimously elected as the new board president. Martindale has been an active member of SYF’s Advisory Council for three years and a vocal advocate for workforce development across the industry.

Mari Carasquillo, vice president of marketing at Costa Farms, is a new member of the board. Carasquillo brings extensive experience in consumer marketing, brand building and audience engagement.

Seed Your Future extended its appreciation to Ronda Hamm, who has served as board president since 2023, and Charlie Hall and Rodd Moesel, who have completed their terms on the board.

"During her tenure, Dr. Hamm championed national partnerships, strengthened engagement with educators, and supported SYF’s strategic expansion to address the horticulture industry’s critical workforce needs. Her leadership helped position the organization for continued national impact," the organization said in a news release about Hamm.

"Their leadership, expertise and long-standing support have helped advance SYF’s mission to strengthen the future horticulture workforce," the organization added about Hall and Moesel.

In support of the organization’s growing national initiatives, Seed Your Future announced the following volunteers who will join SYF committees beginning in January 2026:

• Andrew Gurka, director of student programs, Longwood Gardens
• Jordan Richardson, member engagement & communications manager, CalFlowers
• Sarita Cantu, marketing manager, Smith Gardens
• Lauren Brown, assistant head grower, Smith Gardens
• Sarah Morales, steward, GreenWeaver Landscapes
• Ella Davis, horticulture & marketing comms graduate, University of Wisconsin-River Falls

"These individuals bring expertise across education, communications, growing operations, sustainability and public engagement — strengthening the committees that guide SYF programs, outreach, and industry partnerships," the organization said.

"We are thrilled to welcome Broch, Mari and our incoming committee volunteers at such a pivotal time for Seed Your Future," said Seed Your Future Executive Director Jazmin Albarran. "Their collective experience and passion for developing the next generation of plant professionals will help us broaden our reach, deepen our impact and continue addressing the workforce gap facing the horticulture industry."

2025 Cross-Curricular Career Lessons

Seed Your Future also released its 2025 Cross-Curricular Career Lessons, now available to download for free on its website.

Designed for middle and high school educators, these new classroom-ready resources help teachers connect core academic subjects — including art, math, business, social studies and English — to real careers across the horticulture industry.

"These lessons highlight that horticulture is not just a hobby – it is a STEM-rich, global business with complex operations, specialized departments and thousands of career pathways," the organization said. "From exploring floral wholesale operations and evaluating sustainability impacts to applying math for pricing and supply chain logistics, students experience firsthand how their everyday subjects power plant-focused careers."

"Teachers are the gateway to career awareness," Albarran said. "Once educators see that horticulture is science, technology, business, art and storytelling all at once, they can help students picture themselves in this industry. These lessons give every educator the tools — at no cost — to open those doors."

A new interdisciplinary lesson uses former NBA superstar Derrick Rose as the center of a real-world problem-solving challenge. In "Help Derrick Rose Get His Roses!," students step into the role of experts helping Rose source flowers for his fictional floral shop.

In this social studies–math–science crossover lesson (grades 6 through 12), students:

• Learn how flowers move from farms around the world to local florists
• Evaluate economic factors like profitability
• Analyze sustainability and environmental impacts
• Explore careers such as floral designer, grower, supply chain specialist and wholesaler
• Use data to choose the best flower for Rose’s shop
• Write a professional email pitching their recommendation
• Work through a timed crisis scenario requiring critical thinking, budgeting and logistics problem-solving

The lesson reinforces STEM and business concepts while giving students a realistic look at how many people — and how many career paths — are involved in getting flowers from field to customer.

These lessons are also designed to support:

• University horticulture departments conducting grades 6 through 12 outreach and recruitment
• Industry partners who want to introduce local teachers to plant careers, especially ahead of the Spring Green Career Week, March 2-6, 2026

All 2025 cross-curricular lessons are available now for free here.

The 2026 Seed to STEM Immersive Educator Professional Development Program will take place in Pennsylvania at Longwood Gardens from June 14–18, 2026. The program is specifically designed for horticulture and floriculture high school educators.