Fostering Environmental Stewardship

Hi! My name is Meredith Luce and I am a rising senior from Camden, Maine. I am majoring in Sociology at Whitman and plan to minor in Psychology (soon to be declared). This summer, I was granted the opportunity to work at Welcome Table Farm, which involves participating in daily farm activities and leading the “Farm Kids” program sponsored by Welcome Table and the Blue Mountain Land Trust.

This year, for the first time, Welcome Table invited children ages 4–6 to participate in camp “KinderSprouts.” The camp was a huge success, and will be continued in following years. Along with the “KinderSprouts” session, camp leaders led three week-long sessions of “Farm Kids.” During each session, we were responsible for guiding twenty children through daily activities involving the flora and fauna of Walla Walla, as well as a daily “creek time” in YellowHawk creek. Our goals with the children are to increase environmental stewardship values and education about the natural world surrounding them. Every week, the children were joined by Professor Heidi Dobson, who delivered lessons on etymology. The children were taught how to safely catch and inspect bees and other insects. These kinds of activities were incorporated to teach the children not to fear the natural world around them, but to preserve it instead.

A typical day in the life at Farm Camp begins with a tour around the farm and its facilities. Afterwards, we work with the children to develop group guidelines around what makes a healthy and happy day at camp for everyone involved. Our activities vary each day, as some campers attend multiple sessions of camp. Some highlights of the sessions have been harvesting, pickle making, potato printing, animal feeding, garland and bouquet making, planting, cooking, and even a special Farm Olympics event! At the end of each day, the children and counselors cool off in YellowHawk creek and look for creek life!

This work is related to my studies in Sociology and Psychology, specifically child psychology. I am learning how children of different genders take on gendered roles early on in life, despite parental beliefs and norms in the home. This opportunity has also allowed me to better understand the value of play in childhood development, as well as the implications of the cultural shift away from “free” or “unstructured” play time. Ultimately, this experience has been both educational and wonderfully enjoyable. I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with the team at Welcome Table and the Blue Mountain Land Trust, and I am grateful for the Whitman Internship Grant for making it possible!