Learning By Doing

by Rob Terry, Executive Director

There are as many ways to learn as there are learners. While we would never suggest that any of these many ways are wrong (so long as they protect learners’ physical and emotional safety), we certainly have found a couple that we feel work best for us. While we love books about farming, we believe that the best way to learn about a farm is to work, play and explore on one. Documentaries showcasing unspoiled nature are wonderful, and we feel that nascent ecologists learn the most about eastern forests with leaves underfoot and the canopy overhead.

Interested in learning about aquatic invertebrates? Great, let’s head to the stream. Interested in maple sugaring? Fantastic, let’s tap some trees. You get the idea. Here at Merck Forest, we have a clear bias for place based, experiential education. These are not new, radical ideas. In fact, the renowned Chinese teacher Confucius famously said, around 2,500 years ago, “What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I know.” At Merck Forest & Farmland Center, we have a long-standing (if one can consider 70 years long standing in the shadow of a 2,500-year-old quote) tradition of creating opportunities for learners of all ability levels to join us on the farm and in the forest to learn through hands-on immersion. This is the instructional basis for our summer camps, adult workshops, family programs, and events. It is also the foundation of our career exploration and workforce development programs.

Since our earliest days, Merck Forest has created opportunities for recent high school graduates, college students, and emerging professionals to work and learn in expense-paid internships and seasonal positions. In fact, for decades, most of the folks up on the mountain were interns from the Student Conservation Association, who lived on property in groups of four to six for three months at a time. In recent years, as our operations have expanded to include a more robust ecology program, increased educational offerings for regional youth, expanded summer camps, and new, innovative initiatives designed to support regional working and natural lands, we’ve temporarily shifted our focus to ensuring we have the full-time, year-round staff that we need to accomplish these goals. With this goal (mostly) accomplished, we are excited to report that we’ll be welcoming a full host of interns and seasonal employees this summer.” We’ll be joined by:

• three students from local high schools. Two will support habitat work on the farm and in the woods while the third will be helping out with summer camp.

• two interns from SCA, one working on ecological monitoring while the other will be conducting action research related to improving carbon sequestration by enhancing our grazing program.

• a saw crew from the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps that will be spending a couple of weeks conducting demonstration cuts

• a seasonal recreation technician (that is finishing up an undergrad in natural resources from UVM’s Rubenstein School) who will be helping take care of our trails and cabins, and

• an AmeriCorps VISTA member who will be joining us in the fall to support the expansion of our public school education programs on the farm, in the forest, and at our new satellite campus adjoining the Mettawee Community School

While this work may be the first step on participants’ journey to explore career opportunities in land management, it is not the beginning of the educational journey learners take at Merck Forest. For many of our interns and seasonal staff, learning at Merck Forest starts at a young age, toddling up to the farm with their parents to visit the lambs, pick berries, or taking a walk in the woods. From there, grade school field trips and summer camps introduce young learners to the flora, fauna, abiotic factors and natural processes that shape this landscape. Armed with this new knowledge, middle and high school students return to engage in service learning opportunities alongside our land management staff. Through this continuum of engagement, MFFC offers opportunities for regional youth to work and learn alongside young adults from around the country as they build the skills and knowledge necessary to pick up the mantle and help ensure that this landscape will receive the same care and attention that it does today long into the future.

So, when you see some new faces up on the mountain this year, be sure to say “hi.”

“When I interned at MFFC, I got equal respect from the team. I showed them respect and they shared it back with me. For a 12 year old, that is huge. I learned that focusing on what people care about is important. The team’s values and work ethic has taught me how to do better at school and in life. My time at MFFC taught me that learning could be fun and gratifying. I learned extra science by helping in the sap house and extra math by helping with inventory in the VC. Getting those 100 hours was a challenge I was offered… and met. It felt great!”

Will Ruffa interned in 2019, earning a Leatherman multi-tool utility knife for his 100 hours of service at MFFC. His time spent on projects, both on the land and behind the scenes, was transformative as he experienced the powerful outcomes of hands-on learning and communitybased volunteerism. Will is now a rising 8th grader at Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire.