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IDEAS--

I’m thinking that I should further emphasize the interviews by typing them all neatly and putting them on an interview link on this blog. I’d also print them out on nice paper as part of the final project. 

Another idea of mine is to use an online bookmaker, like Blurb.com, to make a “book” that documents my senior project. It could have pictures, blog posts, my outline, reading list, interviews, poster, final paper, etc. included! I think it would be great to gather the project in a tangible book. I could even order two, one for myself and one for Watershed to keep as an example of a senior project (?). 

I think it would also be interesting to write some sort of article regarding efforts in the midcoast to get kids outdoors! Of course, my twin sister Isabel is interning at the Penobscot Bay Pilot, and so maybe I can allocate the task to her. (haha).

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Interviews and such

Lately, I’ve been working very hard on my senior project. From planning interviews, to planning committee meetings, to researching, I’ve been VERY busy. Advice to all future Watershed seniors: actually be proactive about researching! It can really catch up on you!

Despite feeling a bit stressed, I have confidence that I will be able to finish the first draft on time. I have free time after school on Friday, Saturday night, Sunday morning and night, Monday after school, and Tues Wed Thurs at night. I also have class time on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I’m very excited to have interviews Sunday afternoon, Monday in class, and Wednesday after school. My interviews are as follows:

Jackie Grannis-Pheonix, Children’s House Montessori School Head Teacher. 

Liza Gardner-Walsh, Preschool teacher at Peopleplace and author of several books encouraging outdoor engagement

Lindsay Pinchbeck, educator and founder of Sweetland School. One part of the mission of the Sweetland School is, “Sweetland School inspires compassionate stewards in our world, building empathy through the arts, outdoor engagement, and community connections.”

I’m also planning on interviewing Aaron Englander, my past boss from last summer, who runs a Kids Can Grow program that teaches children how to garden through Erickson Fields, a program operated by Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Hopefully, I will also be able to meet with Ron Howard and Heidi Baker, two other employees at Maine Coast Heritage Trust. These meetings will unfortunately take place after the first draft is due, but these interviews will be valuable when I reevaluate the paper when writing my final draft.

Two other people I am waiting to hear back from are Jen Conover, founder of and educator at Compass Rose Preschool. I believe she would be an excellent resource and I am somewhat disappointed I have not heard back from her! Todd Martin is the Head Lower School teacher at Riley School. As a past Riley student, I know the hard work Todd does to get kids outdoors and how much he values outdoor learning! I hope he gets back to me in the near future regarding an interview, though I also know he and his wife just have a baby so he may be very busy!

Lastly, I have my second committee meeting tomorrow with Will and Elise, which I am looking forward to.

I’m also excited for the workshop this weekend, which is on Saturday at 11:00 at the Children’s Museum. I have been volunteering at the Children’s Museum since January (since Project Week, another program through Watershed). and I am SO excited to become MORE involved. 

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research. notecard method!

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Committee meeting planned

for this Friday!

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Another interview planned!

Excited to have planned another interview for May 6th.

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Very excited!

I have my first interview planned for next Monday! Happy to be making progress.

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Berry picking by Lydia and Emilie

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College Essay

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I’d like to not only post about my Senior Project, but also include my thoughts on why nature is important and how I value sustainable agriculture, among other topics. So, without further rambling, here is my CommonApp essay:

As I snacked on a robust cherry tomato wrapped in a basil leaf, the sun beating down on my skin, I realized how much my job had become a part of my life, a part of me. Despite hours of hard physical labor, at that moment, I felt a surreal contentment as I made my way to the green beans.

This spring I worked at a local vegetable farm that uses organic and sustainable practices, and grows and sells produce at a subsidized rate to local food pantries, a retirement community, and several restaurants in the small town in which I live. When I got the job I was prepared for a learning experience, but I was not fully aware of how much my perspective would change.

I was unaware, before this summer, how much work goes into growing food. A field of potato plants requires copious amounts of work –– first planting and weeding, then mounding and mulching, more weeding, more mounding, and finally in the fall, digging. It is easy to simply buy produce, being oblivious to how much work is needed to grow and prepare it, particularly if it is organic. The satisfaction of harvesting hundreds of pounds of potatoes in September is gratifying, and it made me realize how hard work pays off, how keeping a positive attitude is necessary, even when faced with hand-picking beetle larva from ravaged plants.

It is a unique experience, spending all day growing food, and then going to a local restaurant and eating that same food. “I helped grow this romaine,” I remember saying to a couple friends. I know they could sense the accomplishment in my tone. When harvests brought extra yield, I would take some home to my family and prepare a vegetable feast – broccoli, green beans, zucchini, beets, eggplant. I would jokingly tell my dad, who works full-time in an office, that tonight I was the one who brought home the food. His chuckle was not mocking, it was proud. Though it is important to acknowledge the need to depend on someone else, I have experienced and know that I can be independent, that I can provide myself with a fundamental piece to human life –– food.

Farming is a learning process, and a process of growth – both literally and metaphorically. Spreading manure in the spring seemed useless when the largest plants growing were weeds. But slowly the garden began to flourish. Kale plants thrived, sunflowers loomed at twelve feet tall, and beans reached the tops of their trellises. Squash plants grew in a mass, so thickly I could no longer see the soil beneath their leaves. During those late summer days, I listened to the hum of crickets while I filled harvest tubs to the brim with green beans and other bounties. With a wave of triumph and after many trials and tribulations, I was able to steer a tractor with a trailer in reverse – a task much easier said than done. Each day was routine, and yet each day I felt more independent, more competent, more comfortable with the reality that not all of the crops would be complete successes.

My coworkers and I pulled all of our diseased peppers from the ground, disposing of them in black contractor bags. I struggled washing scallions, removing their outermost rotting layers one by one. Sometimes my back would ache with the monotonous rhythm of hoeing. I would wonder why I chose to work on a farm. But with the natural, unique taste of home made fresh mint ice cream, with the humming of familiar crickets, with the dirt in my cuticles, and with the burst of a cherry tomato, I knew I had grown in a fundamental way that defines who I am, and how I approach the world.

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Press Release!

Check out this press release for the Garden in a Bag workshop this week.

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beauty

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Beginning my blog

for my senior project :)