Translating Ideas into Action for Weddington Property

SOON AFTER IT was announced this past summer that 330 acres in Weddington had been donated to Country Day by Smoky Bissell and Margaret Gragg Bissell, Country Day teachers wasted no time envisioning the possibilities.

For the past few months, Country Day teachers have been visiting the property in small groups to imagine lesson plans for their students. The property is currently home to an organic, sustainable farm, including vegetables, goats, and chickens. There are also wooded expanses of native trees and plants, as well as a stream. The property offers numerous opportunities for creative educational programming, such as hands-on ecology and biology lessons or an introduction to sustainable farming methods.

“Our faculty has presented a myriad of ambitions tied to student learning,” said Head of School Marcel Gauthier. “In the months ahead, our current work is to provide the human resources and facilities infrastructure to allow those opportunities to happen safely and with comprehensive oversight.”

We are very fortunate that the Bissells have given the school a generous and thoughtful five-year monetary commitment to support the costs of owning and operating the property. To that end, Mr. Gauthier announced the creation of two new positions to facilitate educational programming. A Working Farm Site Manager will be responsible for coordinating and managing all farm facilities, infrastructure, grounds, and equipment maintenance and operations. The Educational Program Manager will be responsible for coordinating and managing all farm-based student and employee learning experiences. At press time, the selection process for these positions was in the final stage.

Additionally, the school is in the initial phase of designing several shelters with restrooms, assembling areas, and parking to accommodate class field trips. By the start of the 2023–24 school year, we hope to have the people and infrastructure in place for students to begin taking part in learning opportunities on the property.

We will continue to keep the community updated as progress unfolds in ways that align with Country Day’s Mission and Key Values.

The Middle School Garden Club, led by eighth-grade science teacher Simon Keilty, worked a late-season harvest on the new property. They learned about the marketing of gardening by harvesting, washing, drying, and packaging various vegetables.