Auerfarm in Bloomfield has piloted a new summer program, Growing Opportunities (GO), that will ensure continuous learning for special needs students and high school students, with the support of an Innovation Grant from the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). Auerfarm is extremely grateful to be one of 25 state organizations that are recipients in this round of Innovation Grant funding. The CSDE expects to use some of the $110 million in Coronavirus relief funding from the federal American Rescue Plan to provide enrichment program grants, extend contracts with online learning platforms and establish a statewide model curriculum. The Auerfarm GO program is designed to deliver bold and innovative summer enrichment programming to Connecticut children this summer.
The GO summer program at Auerfarm is based on successful partnerships built with the Farmington Valley Transition Academy, West Hartford Public Schools Transition Program, and the Greater Hartford school systems. The transition program traditionally runs during the school year, yet it left students susceptible to “summer learning loss” and being at risk of losing the skills they worked hard to develop during the school year. This year, with the help of the CADE’s Innovation Grant, the Auerfarm GO program was expanded to include seven weeks of summer programming with intensive, competitive, career-oriented, hands-on kitchen training, certifications, and interaction with agricultural, hospitality, food service, and facility professionals in the community.
The SCDE Funding provides significant support to Auerfarm for the GO summer program, which will deliver soft and hard workplace skills to students ages 18-22 with special needs, thus increasing their hire-ability. An additional component of the program is educating local employers and farmers on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Additionally, the program recruits high school students to serve as Counselors in Training/Mentors (CIT) to develop leadership training capacity. The CIT Mentors will also partake in the program and work with the job coaches on developing their own work portfolios.
Auerfarm provides a unique space with 120-acres of farmland, classrooms, learning kitchen and certified commercial kitchen where students participate in a wide variety of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) experiential learning opportunities. Students will expand upon workplace skills in the fields of agriculture, facilities management, food service, and hospitality-agritourism. Working together with the local school systems, the Auerfarm GO program is inclusive of career development for people with disabilities, empowering high school students, and educating our state’s employers and farmers on the benefits of hiring local people with disabilities, and those without.
“Advancing access to hands-on learning and addressing opportunity gaps requires a coordinated approach that focuses on all influencers of education, not just in typical classroom-learning,” said Mark Weismann, Auerfarm Board of Trustees Chairman. “Auerfarm is committed to improving and growing individual access to workforce opportunities while addressing the interrelated system of inequalities that lead workforce placement for young adults with special needs.”
Graduating from high school and being on the path of independence is both an exhilarating and anxious experience for students and their families. Many students have dreams and aspirations of what career paths they want to go down, and what they are interested in. Students with disabilities have those same dreams and aspirations. However, when students with disabilities and their parents consider what will happen next, the possibility of college and being employed independently is often not promoted as a viable option. Auerfarm’s GO program provides students with skills to land meaningful employment.
Research shows that only one in five working-age individuals with a disability are successfully employed. Additionally, a study conducted by Accenture found that only 29% of Americans with a disability between ages 16 and 64 were employed compared to 75% of non-disabled Americans in the same age bracket. The underemployment of individuals with disabilities has a debilitating financial and emotional effect on families in the United States.
The $67,442 CSDE Innovation Grant addresses the need for students with disabilities and high school students to have meaningful employment opportunities in agricultural, food service, hospitality, and facility management related fields, upon graduation from high school. Auerfarm will track the impact of this uniquely inclusive initiative. If successful, it could be expanded to other farms and community businesses.
“We are truly grateful to the State of Connecticut Department of Education for funding this pilot program so we may better serve the educational and workforce needs of everyone in the Greater Hartford community. Partnerships like this allow us to fulfill our mission of serving as a compassionate and inclusive environment to inspire children and adults to engage in, learn about, and enjoy agriculture, science, and the natural environment.,” stated Erica Fearn, CRE, Executive Director, Auerfarm.
For over 45 years, Auerfarm has inspired life-long learning through hands-on, interactive and innovative experiences in which students, families, and other visitors gain environmental knowledge and a heightened appreciation for the natural world around us. The farm is committed to engaging diverse learners of all ages in learning about educational programs that make full use of Auerfarm’s resources – animals, gardens, trails, streams, and innovative classroom spaces – to provide hands-on learning experiences.
The historic farm was generously donated by Beatrice Fox Auerbach’s grandchildren to 4-H with an agreement to maintain the property as open space and provide a community resource where children and families can learn about agriculture and enjoy the ambiance of the farm. The 120-acre property located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut was deeded to the non-profit Connecticut 4-H Development Fund, Inc. in 1976, doing business as 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm.
Auerfarm educational programs reach across all ages and include: School field trips (in person and virtual), Farm to School, Farm Explorers, 4-H Clubs, summer day camp and seasonal after-school Enrichment Camp, Family Fun, UConn Master Gardeners, Food Share Garden and Auerfarm Growing Opportunities. Annual Events include: Fall Farm Festival, Blueberry Jam, Party in Plaid, and Pancake Breakfast. All Auerfarm education programs are linked to the Connecticut Early Learning Development Standards (CT ELDS) and the Next Generation Service Standards (NGSS), ensuring their applicability across a range of academic standards. Auerfarm educators include certified teachers, curriculum specialists, and farmers – all with experience in social and emotional learning, agri-science and nature.
Auerfarm is open to the public daily from 7am – 7pm. Auerfarm invites you to come visit the animals, the gardens, walk our trails, and enjoy all that the 120-acres has to offer. For more information on educational programs, events and corporate outings, please visit www.auerfarm.org or call 860.242.7144.