This two-week service-oriented teen apprentice program for 6th-8th graders is focused on fulfilling the Farm's mission to serve the needs of the community while also giving your teen much-needed service hours eventually required for summer jobs, college applications, National Honor Society applications and more. That’s the bonus. The real meat of this program is the fact that your child is learning to give back to the community and appreciate the rewards of volunteering well before entering high school!
In this fun, feel-good program, teen participants will focus on planting, watering and harvesting vegetables that will then be donated to local food pantries, where the need is great. We will invite representatives from local receiving agencies to visit the Farm and talk about food insecurity in our area and how community volunteering changes lives. Once per session, we will cook up a nutritious meal for the residents of Westport’s Gillespie Center, incorporating the Farm’s organic produce. The teens will also run their own Farm stand.
In addition, students will interact with Farm’s rabbits, ducks, chicken, sheep, goats, and our furry Alpacas. They will learn about animal care, feeding, and even halter training. We will also explore environmental topics, such as composting, creating a pollinator garden, and the Zero Waste initiative through visiting guest experts who will demonstrate and talk to the group. We will also enjoy a few “maker" crafts using sustainable/reusable materials.
The second session of the two-week program ends with a “graduation” celebration, where students share their feelings about their experiences growing their own food, the role the Farm plays in community education, and what they learned about community service. Each participant will receive a Green Teen Service Certificate.
