Garden Classrooms

The Mountain School is an independent semester program that provides high school juniors the opportunity to live and work on an organic farm in rural Vermont. Each semester the Mountain School draws 45 high-achieving students from all over the country. Courses provide a demanding, integrated learning experience that takes full advantage of the school's small size and mountain campus. While living with teachers in small houses, students help to make important decisions concerning how we live together and manage the farm.

Damar’s organic garden project is called Growth for Kids Garden. It is an outdoor learning environment designed to engage students age 6-19 in the development of a school garden while promoting healthy nutrition and positive social skills. Our garden helps improve academic retention through an engaging connection between in-class learning and hands-on experiences during the summer, from science and math to nutrition and literacy. We study worms, weather, sunlight, and what our plants need to grow.

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The FARMS Leadership program brings high school students out of the classroom and onto farms, ranches, universities, agricultural businesses and processing facilities, and other agricutlure-focused sites. Students learn about sustainable agriculture, leadership skills, college studies and careers related to sustainability through hands-on work and mentoring from professionals in the field.

The Center for Land-Based Learning operates the FARMS Leadership program in seven regions of California: