Farm & Garden Camp is brought to you by
The Farm Education Collaborative.
Directors
Hope Guardenier
M.S. in Environmental Science
As the Executive Director of School Sprouts Educational Gardens, Hope has been instrumental in designing and implementing over 10 teaching gardens throughout the Pioneer Valley. She works with schools, community centers and afterschool programs to realize a vision of outdoor classrooms that allow for hands-on learning and meaningful work. Hope has a M.S. in Environmental Science and additional experience in curriculum development, program coordination, and over a decade of teaching in the outdoors. She serves on the Belchertown Agricultural Commission and 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.
Meg Taylor
M.S. in Environmental Science, Secondary Teaching Certification
Meg has 15 years experience in environmental and agricultural education, working with all ages, preschool through adult. She has worked as a farm educator for Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm and at Shelburne Farms in Vermont. Her agriculture experience includes growing organic produce in Burlington, working as the market manager for two Boston farmer’s markets, and serving as Project Director for Baltimore Grows – a community and youth gardening USDA food security initiative. Meg has coordinated school and community garden programs, developed garden and farm education curriculum, and taught middle school life science for several years. She founded the Pioneer Valley Backyard Chicken Association, in which she coordinates a web site, annual coop tour, and chicken workshops. Meg currently serves on the NOFA Board of Directors and lives in Williamsburg with her family and barnyard friends.
Alya Stoffer-Koloszyc
M.S. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Elementary Teaching Certification
Alya has danced between farming and teaching since 1996, when she began a three year apprenticeship at Intervale Community Farm, a large CSA in Burlington, Vermont. She combined these passions in her role as Education Coordinator and Market Manager for New York City’s Greenmarket in 1999 and worked on farms between and during teaching jobs over the following decade. Alya collaborated with city educators and market farmers to develop a kindergarten food curriculum, which evolved into her graduate thesis at Bank Street College of Education. She has worked as a classroom teacher for eight years in both public and private settings, growing food inside and out with children from three to six years old. She also co-directed an overnight summer camp in Brattleboro, Vermont and helped to initiate a garden program there. Alya now makes her home and garden in Easthampton with her son Henry and her husband Rich.
Camp Instructors
Jacy Armenti
Jacy grew up in Westhampton and recently received her M.A. from the Education Department at the University of Massachusetts. She worked as a summer camp instructor at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary for several years. Jacy loves theatre, singing, cooking and being outdoors. This is her first year at the Farm and Garden Camp and she is very excited to be here!
Gretchen Bennett
Gretchen is an Ada Comstock Scholar at Smith College. She will be completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education next May and plans to be teaching Kindergarten by the Fall of 2011. Her goal as a teacher is to bring the outdoors inside the classroom, to encourage children to make connections between the natural world and their daily lives. Her personal belief and educational philosophy is that by offering young children knowledge which connects them to the natural world and the global community, we are investing in their future and the future of our planet.
Mida McKenrick - Livestock Speciaist
Mida, a 2010 Hampshire College Graduate, worked for the Hampshire College farm for two years. She is excited to explore the farm and introduce the farm animals to the campers this summer, especially Coco and the other cows. She studied Political Ecology and Sustainable Development during her time at Hampshire, including fieldwork in Chang Mai, Thailand and Pine Ridge Reservation, SD. She also worked as a Hampshire College Emergency Medical Technician for four years and is a certified Wilderness EMT. A babysitter and dance instructor from an early age, Mida looks forward to sharing with and learning from the campers. Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, she loves hiking, exploring, and do-it-yourself projects.
Dylan grew up in rural New York, playing and working outdoors on farms and in gardens. As a child, she spent summers at both sleep-away camps and farm camps, and loves being part of a camp community. In the fall, she will be a junior at Smith College, majoring in Sociology and Latin American Studies. Since coming to Smith College, she has become involved in the Smith Community Gardens. She has been the Crop Coordinator for this spring, and will be a Garden Manager throughout the summer and in the fall. Dylan spent last summer working as a counselor at the Hawthorne Valley Farm Camp in Ghent, New York. It was an incredibly inspiring and enriching experience, and deeply solidified her interest in working with children through agriculture and outdoor education.
Heather Starkel
Heather is pleased to join Farm and Garden Camp and is excited to work with the youngest members of the camp. Heather has worked with young children in a variety of capacities, most recently as the Lead Teacher for the Kindergarten June Program at Smith College Campus School. Additionally, she was recently hired as a Co-Teacher at the MLK, Jr. Charter School of Excellence in Springfield, MA.