Summer Institute on Food, Farming, Culture and Education (FFCE)

This week long intensive professional learning experience will take place amidst the natural beauty and agricultural richness of the oldest, most continuously farmed, working landscapes on Bainbridge Island. 

Over the past two years, Suyematsu/Bentryn Farms has been in the process of transforming into a center of learning of K-12 and community based education.  The institute is aimed at supporting educators in building their professional repertoire around cornucopia of food and farm related subject areas. Grounded in place-based education and framed around a curriculum for our bioregion, we explore the possibilities for enriching teaching and learning and bridging classroom and community. We are creating pathways for building stronger relationships between farms, classrooms, and lunchrooms.   It has been a wonderful opportunity to ground one’s teaching practice around the integration of scholarship, stewardship, citizenship, and sustainability.

Here is what participants in last summer's institute had to say about their experience: “It was an amazing experience. The program was thoughtfully designed and I felt we were pushed to consider a lot of aspects farming /agriculture and education… I felt it was a very worthwhile institute and it fed my soul as well as my educational interests…Just getting my hands in the dirt and being on my knees was a powerful experience. – High School Teacher

I’d have to say the personalities of the Day Road Farmers and historical Bainbridge Islanders were a highlight for me. I also found it very valuable to be at the institute with others from our school to see how they plan to use the farm.  Being a primary teacher, the “hands-on” experience solidifies the learning for me.  I came up with so many ideas during that quiet time we spent walking around on our own. – Elementary School Teacher

When	Jul 27, 2009 12:00 PM to Jul 31, 2009 12:00 PM
Where	Suyematsu/Bentryn Farms (and other sites on Bainbridge Island)
Contact Email	garfunkel@globalsourcenetwork.org
Contact Phone	(206) 780-5797
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