The Gathering Table

Davy Brooks has worked diligently and creatively over two trimesters to bring  their idea through all of the stages of design to completed reality. Davy began with the big idea of self-sustainable eating — taking care of growing spaces, growing food, making a table to eat at, and preparing meals....

Seventh Grade collaborative skeleton

Seventh grade science students learned about human anatomy and the skeletal system in the spring. To help the students apply this knowledge, Carli Rivers assigned each student one bone or a set of bones to make out of foam, cardboard, and papier mâché. Carefully, the students worked not only to...

Honing the laser cutter skills

The laser cutter….it’s not just for cookies anymore. Well, actually it has been used on cookies and wood and plastic and a wide variety of other materials in the past few weeks. In learning what this precision machine can and can not do, Kyle Graves and Derrick Taylor, our mid-year...

Garden Party for Ja’Daiza Johnson

As a festive thank you and send off to our Commons Educator, Ja’Daiza Johnson, an informal garden party was held to celebrate her work and the growth of the garden. Faculty and staff who worked closely with Ja’Daiza and who benefited from her can-do attitude and agricultural expertise wished her...

Commons Speaker Series — #9 Fake News vs. Journalism

On May 31st, Harley hosted “Fake News vs. Journalism” as part of our Commons Speaker Series. The interactive talk focused on the role of journalism in civic engagement, featuring local experts, Erica Bryant and Rajesh Barnabas. This Rochester storytelling power couple took turns addressing their own engagement with media and...

Growing Spaces Community Day

Growing Spaces Community Day, May 20th 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...

Spring in the Greenhouse

Even though the weather mid-April is still variable, the Greenhouse is starting to show signs of life and growth. Thanks to Ja’Daiza Johnson and the Food and Farm Lab class, many plant starters and seeds are being nurtured so that they can fill the high tunnel, micro farm, and green...

Nazareth/Harley collaboration — by Jocie Kopfman

Nazareth/Harley Collaboration — Jocie Kopfman is a Commons Educator who co-teaches our Rights & Responsibilities class This trimester in Rights & Responsibilities, Harley and Nazareth students began to consider how they could collaborate as community partners. The students are all involved in classes with a similar goal: to empower students...