Hope Guardenier Founding Director Hope founded The Farm Education Collaborative in 2008 with 2 fellow educators and moms. Since 2009 she has been gardening and farming with campers, including her own sons, at the Farm and Garden Camp at Hampshire College. Hope is also the Executive Director of School Sprouts Educational Gardens and has been instrumental in designing and implementing over 15 teaching gardens throughout the Pioneer Valley. She works to realize a vision of outdoor classrooms that allow for hands-on learning and meaningful work. Hope has a M.S. in Environmental Science from Antioch University and additional experience in curriculum development, program coordination, and over two decades of teaching in the outdoors. She is passionate about connecting youth of all ages to their food and bringing learning to life. She and her family live and garden in Belchertown.
Cara Michelle Silverberg Camp Director Cara has worked in the field of place-based education and has been directing summer camps and leadership development programs for over ten years. She attended Grinnell College and then Prescott College where graduated with a self-designed B.A. in Bioregional Studies with an emphasis in Environmental Education. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation with a Training Specialization at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, focusing on embodied leadership in social justice and environmental movements. Cara is passionate about fostering community experiences that help people to explore and express themselves, their relationships with the earth, and their relationships with each other. She is an herbalist, dancer, musician and blogger. She is excited for her second year at Farm and Garden Camp!
Molly Sauvain Garden Specialist Molly is excited to return to camp for her second summer as Garden Specialist! She has over eight years of experience as an educator, and recently completed a Masters of Education at Antioch University New England. She came to the Pioneer Valley to attend Smith College as an undergraduate and, except for a two year stint in Maine, has been working and growing there ever since. Molly is currently a 4th and 5th grade teacher at The Center School in Greenfield. She is passionate about meaningful, hands-on learning experiences that allow children to wonder, connect, and grapple. As you might expect, she loves gardening, growing things with kids, and singing songs about plants. You can find her with dirty knees digging around out there, talking to worms and sticking her nose in the basil.
