Farm Ed for Youth: Growing Stories
Farm Ed for Youth: Growing Stories
"Do you want to help connect school age children to the natural environment at this time when outdoor learning is so important?"
This Capstone will partner with the Sauvie Island Center (sauvieislandcenter.org). The mission of the Sauvie Island Center is “educating youth about food, farming, and the land.” Students will work collaboratively with the Sauvie Island Center staff to develop curriculum for school age children, help the Center to share the stories of Pacific Northwest Indigenous lands and people, Oregon farmers, and farm education, and support Center staff in developing the organization’s field trip site at Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island. Capstone students will learn about sustainable food systems and the impact of farm education; they will also develop skills in educating and storytelling to help transform the relationship between humans and their environment and thus enact social change.
Class times are on Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:00pm-1:50pm.
As a class and with our community partner we will decide how we meet for this hybrid course. We will have a university room available to us for in-person meetings when we need it, we can also do much of our work for our community partner remotely, and we can also hold sessions on site at Topaz Farm. Students should plan to be available every week during scheduled class times. All students will visit the farm at least once at the beginning of the term.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Demonstrate deep and active listening skills through listening to others’ accounts of their history and experiences.
Collect and curate stories of individuals and communities through interactions with those who have been influenced by their connection to Topaz Farm and Sauvie Island Center.
Translate stories to final products (classroom curriculum and publications) that help to share stories with a broader audience.
Demonstrate an understanding of food systems, food (in)security, gardening/environmental/place-based education, and the work of the Sauvie Island Center.
Critically analyze inequities and injustices in our current food and education systems, and recognize their agency in addressing those inequities and injustices.
