The presentation was shared with Harley faculty, administration, fellow students (Seth O’Bryan’s discrete math class), and people from outside of Harley who are involved in small scale farming as well as local food distribution and businesses. Davy began by showing how the Harley Micro-Farm has traditionally been designed (long mounded rows with a few fruit trees), explaining the limitations on growing space that approach presented, as well as the challenge of maintenance. Historically, the growing space of the garden has been around 1750 square feet. Below are photos of what the Harley Micro-Farm used to look like, and then an aerial shot of the garden fully cleared and tilled.

Davy then shared how their thinking evolved from initial designs, considering both aesthetics and productivity/efficiency, to more fully realized designs informed by research and comparative data. With the goal of utilizing more growing space and making the space more aesthetically fun, Davy’s two final designs increase the growing space to over 3600 square feet, allow for more planting variety (perennials, permaculture, “patches” vs. rows, grade-level assigned areas, etc.) and more engagement (labyrinth).  The program used to render the design was Sketch Up, 3D modeling software.

After presenting their designs and the thinking behind the driving decisions, Davy fielded questions from the audience ranging from what will be planted, irrigation, maintenance,  to accessibility and animal/insect considerations. The response from the audience was positive, even when asked to consider ALL of the math-based questions which could be drawn from the garden layout.

The Harley Garden Club is taking on a new project: The Harley Compost Project. Our goal is to be able to build usable compost for the Harley Micro-Farm separately from the compost that goes to Community Compost each week. Because we have different considerations when composting on-site versus sending it off to Community Compost, we are piloting a new compost collection system specifically for our farm.

To avoid confusion, we will be using a new batch of buckets (with lids) for the Harley Compost. These buckets will be yellow, with labels indicating their purpose as well as what can and can’t go in them (See below). As this is an experimental project; we are starting small, with just a few locations in the Upper School. The Garden Club students identified these as places where snacks and other food items are disposed of, besides the Dining Hall.

Members of the garden club will be checking and emptying the buckets routinely throughout the week- emptying them twice a week but checking daily and upping the frequency of the emptying if needed.  Each bucket is assigned to one student:

Bucket locations & Assigned Student:

• Commons Basement  – Davy Brooks
• US Faculty Room- Tess Begley
• Beckerman- Sunniva Sheffield
• Senior Hallway – Bef Mekonnen
• Science Hallway – Eleanor Foster

Sincerely,

Lisa & The Garden Club

Meg Sternowski kicked off the evening’s discussion. She is extremely passionate about sharing knowledge of the great things happening around Rochester and creating a resilient and empathetic community. With a background in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Sustainability, Meg works at Constellation Brands as their Corporate Environmental Sustainability Manager and manages and measures the company’s environmental footprint. Meg has a passion for waste – re-imagining, reusing, repurposing, and recycling to make a long term difference. As one of two employees dedicated to the topic of sustainability in a 8,000-person business, Meg spoke about how essential it is to take every opportunity to help make a difference for good.

Following Meg, Nate August described his work as the manager of the Wegmans Organic Farm & Orchard in Canandaigua, NY. Nate graduated from Cornell University’s Agricultural Sciences program in 2015 and now manages the many facets of the Wegmans farm. The farm works to integrate new research and technology with regenerative farming practices to increase the supply of regionally-grown, flavorful and nutritious food for Wegmans customers. Nate is passionate about exploring opportunities for innovation in the dynamic food production industry, while also finding agricultural practices that are efficient and enhance the land (rather than detracting from it).

The last of the three to share, Davy Brooks reflected back on their first exposure to sustainability work and the food-based courses they took two years ago that piqued their interest in the subject. Davy’s dive into sustainability work came through hands-on projects with the Harley bees, building in the workshop, and eventually independent studies where they considered the social side of community and sustainability, as well as the scientific side of it. Over their two years at Harley, Davy has  been involved in the design of the growing spaces, planting and managing the Micro-Farm, and maintaining the Harley bee hive within the Food and Farm program and maker ed offerings. Davy is currently working in an independent study to redesign the layout of the Harley Micro-Farm to maximize growing space and aesthetic appeal. 

The second half of the evening was a question/answer time for the panel, moderated by Seth O’Bryan, Commons Director.  When asked what schools could do to help increase awareness of sustainability efforts, the panelists answered: provide open-ended problem solving which result in positive changes in the school environment; make sustainability part of the ongoing dialogue of the school culture rather than just a class; bring green spaces to the center of the student experience; and give the students a forum when they can collaborate and reflect on their work.

As a fitting concluding question, Seth asked the panelists what they each hoped to accomplish in the coming year and why they were optimistic about the future.  Nate ended the evening sharing that, overall, people in operations naturally gravitate towards making systems more efficient and sustainable, and that the pursuit of sustainability is like enlightenment — never fully arriving, but constantly striving to be better.

Meet Lisa Barker, Food and Farm Coordinator. Lisa is responsible for all growing spaces on campus: the Baron Greenhouse in the Commons, the high tunnel, and the Harley Micro-Farm. You will learn more about her Food and Farm 101 course in a separate blog post.

Meet Kima Enerson, our new Maker Educator in the Commons. Kima is in charge of the workshop space in the basement of the Commons, but serves as a collaborator with many faculty to expand their teaching to include more hands-on and design thinking principles for their students. You will learn more about her work with the Middle School students in a separate blog post.

Kevin Boyd and Jocie Kopfman are returning teachers in the Commons, but this year they are teaching a new course together: Sustainable Community Engagement. This course offers students the opportunity to design an educational partnership with a locally based community non-profit organization. This hands-on engagement is coupled with an in-class introduction to basic elements of sociological research methods, with specific attention to power and access through the lenses of race, gender, and socio-economic factors. The pedagogical aim is to empower students with the tools to create mutual, enduring, and transformative social partnerships.

Our fearless Commons Director, Seth O’Bryan, helps oversee all of the courses in the Commons while teaching a few of his own specific to the sustainable energy and systems in the building.

TRIMESTER I COMMONS COURSES and CLUBS:

Design and Innovation Lab — Upper School elective

Design and Innovation Lab is an entry-level engineering and innovation class that exposes students to the basic elements of the design process (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) and then supports them through a series of increasingly difficult design challenges. Through this hands-on, shop-based class, students work with core engineering and design concepts and collaborate to solve various problems. Material and the related tools the students will utilize include cardboard, wood, metal, electronics, digital logic and programming, biology and plants, and more. Additionally, students learn the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to operate a baseline set of tools in the shop safely and effectively.

Design and Innovation Flex Time – Middle School flex time option

Middle School students learn the basics of design in the Workshop, while developing familiarity and skills with hand tools.

Food and Farm 101 – Upper School elective

This course provides students with experiential hands-on learning through working as the management and labor force behind the Harley Micro-Farm and greenhouse. This fall, students have been harvesting produce and experimenting with unique recipes, as well as planning and planting crops for fall/winter green production in the high tunnel. They also have the opportunity to explore design concepts related to small-scale food production and education, as well as to examine the framework of community food systems, beginning to think conceptually and practically about real-world food issues, discrepancies, and solutions.

Food and Farm Flex Time– Middle School flex time option

Middle School students can spend time working with Lisa in the Micro-Farm and getting their hands dirty!

Garden Club – Upper School weekly club

The Garden Club has been working on identifying projects around the Micro-Farm and are starting with supporting the compost program.

Hospice – Upper School year-long elective

Students learn both the medical and emotional side of providing end-of-life care, which includes assigned shifts at local hospice houses and reflection on what they are learning and feeling as they care for others.

Independent Studies – Upper School electives

Students are offered opportunities to pursue a particular subject in-depth or develop an understanding of a topic not offered in the current curriculum.

Intro to Mindfulness – Upper School elective

A trimester course designed to introduce students to elements of mindful practice, the research behind it, and exercises/meditation to increase their awareness of their thoughts and ability to be fully present in the moment.

Living Building – Upper School elective

Students work together to investigate topics and address problems related to the Commons building and sustainability. This trimester, the students are building a gate for the Micro-Farm, studying coding to gather data from the solar chimneys, and designing and interactive lobby space for the ground floor of the Commons.

Maker Mornings — Sixth Grade homeroom activities

The sixth grade homerooms attend Maker Mornings once a week each to build their sense of community, learn to work collaboratively, and to tackle quick engineering challenges in the Project Space.

Rights & Responsibilities – Ninth Grade mandatory trimester rotation

R & R is a trimester-long freshman seminar that engages students in discussions and activities that explore our individual and collective rights and responsibilities within the various communities to which we belong. Students use issues facing the Harley community, the Rochester community, and the broader national and global communities as discussion points and examples. They explore their thoughts and opinions about these issues in terms of individual and collective success, and social and environmental justice. Students learn basic qualitative research skills in order to explore a social issue that interests them so that they can effectively advocate and work toward solutions they could implement to effect positive social change.

Robotics– Upper School year-long elective

Students are introduced to the basics of coding in this course. They learn how to design and build a robot to complete specific tasks as assigned by the competitive league guidelines. Using design thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity, the “team” learns how to maximize their strengths to leverage the best outcome as they program their robot and prepare for competition.

Sustainable Community Engagement – Upper School year-long elective

This course offers students the opportunity to design an educational partnership with a locally based community non-profit organization. This hands-on engagement is coupled with an in-class introduction to basic elements of sociological research methods, with specific attention to power and access through the lenses of race, gender, and socio-economic factors. The pedagogical aim is to empower students with the tools to create mutual, enduring, and transformative social partnerships.

Commons Educator Ja’Daiza Johnson and Commons Director Seth O’Bryan hosted a work day in the Harley Micro Farm to help prepare the rows for planting by cleaning up from the winter and distributing fresh top soil and compost on the garden beds. Several Harley families came out on a beautiful Saturday morning to get dirty and work hard to help ensure a strong growing season for the fruits and vegetables that will appear in our dining hall in the fall and serve as curricular material for our summer programs and fall classes. All ages found meaningful ways to plug into the activity. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and energy for our community garden!

Looking around the room, it was truly a great opportunity to make connections! Colleagues from Harley, Horizons, local universities, former students, neighbors, current Headwater staff, and community movers and shakers all rubbed elbows and swapped Hartman stories while wishing Chris and his family the best in this next chapter of their lives. We hope everyone who attended walked away inspired to stay connected and do great things in the future! Thanks to all who attended!