When Laguna Blanca’s Natalie McCaffery isn’t blocking or spiking balls on the volleyball court and making saves as the goalkeeper on the soccer field, she’s thinking about how agriculture can be better around the world.
McCaffery on Monday was honored at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon as Laguna Blanca’s Scholar Athlete of the Year.
The senior carries a 4.43 grade point average while taking a heavy load of advanced placement courses, including English Literature, Statistics, Environmental Science & Research and French.
She’s been named to the honor roll at Laguna Blanca every year of high school.
“But when you dig into her academic experiences, this is where I think Natalie is truly unique from a lot of our past winners,” said award sponsor and presenter Marc Gamberdella. “She’s clearly a young lady with a great deal of focus. She says that through the science and research program at Laguna Blanca, her main focus has been agriculture and most specifically ag tech.”
McCaffery’s interest in agriculture was sparked by a project she did for the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award Girls Scout Seniors and Ambassadors can earn.
In her project, she formed a farm club on campus and built a curriculum to bring agriculture into the classroom. In addition, she formed a non-profit called Education Ag Tech.
“It’s really an impressive achievement,” said Gamberdella.
In December, she presented her views on the next generation’s position in shaping the agriculture industry at the Women in Food and Agriculture Summit in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“Clearly, this is a kid who’s not only succeeding but taking it to just other levels,” Gamberdella raved.
Her college plan is to major in either environmental science or agricultural sciences.
McCaffery has been recognized for her abilities on the athletic field. She is a two-time first-team all-league selection in soccer and a second-team honoree in volleyball.
She also is a competitive sailor, racing in the laser radial class, a single-handed boat that is raced in the Olympic Games. She’s competed at the U,S. Youth Championships and Youth World Championships.
She attributes a lot of her athletic success to growing up in a very athletic family with two older brothers, who were both standout multi-sport athletes at Laguna Blanca.
She has been active in Girl Scouts for several years. She has more than 1500 hours of community service and has been nominated for the National Young Woman of Distinction Award.
Natalie is the daughter of John and Danielle McCaffery.
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