Hello, campers and families, we would like you to meet the Farm Camp Counselors and Interns who are making Arcadia Farm Camp 2015 possible.
They’re quite a talented and enthusiastic group!
Starting with our passionate Farm Education Director, Morgan Maloney. She leads the farm education programs throughout the year and puts on her “Camp Director” farmer cap for the summer! Morgan is looking forward to seeing the many returning budding farmers and garden-based chefs faces this summer, as well as those young farm-lovers who are new to the wonders of Farm Camp.
For the past week, our electric team of Counselors (Farmers Leah,
Luis, Maggie, Paul, and Stefanie) has spent their days preparing to create a
positive and interactive Farm Camp experience for our campers. Our Interns, Ina
and Maggie, are delighted to support the work of the Counselors to help make
this environment of farming food and fun even more spectacular. We’re excited for Farm Campers to explore, play, and discover the farm with our dynamic staff!
Leah Hindel is
thrilled to be joining the Arcadia Team as a Farm Camp Counselor this summer!
Her passion for the environment formed when she was a camper and her previous
experience as a camp counselor has prepared her to teach Farm Campers about
food, nature, and sustainability. Originally from Charlotte,
NC, Leah just graduated from Kenyon College with a bachelor’s in
International Studies and Environmental Studies. Leah devoted her undergraduate
studies to learning about issues of food and sustainability on a global level
while her free time was spent volunteering on local farms and advocating for
local food systems as the leader of a sustainable agriculture-focused student
organization. If she were a
vegetable, she would be a sweet potato! Leah thinks environmental
education plays a huge role in strengthening local food systems and cannot wait
to farm, cook, and play with Farm Campers!
Luis Francia grew up in the South Island of New Zealand where he was
surrounded by sustainability. This fostered his love of the environment, which has stuck with him to this day. He spent a short
time living in Peru and Costa Rica where he was able to learn to confidently
speak Spanish through emersion. He
is excited to see smiling faces that are eager to learn and have fun at
the farm. If he could be any fruit, he would be a kiwifruit, for obvious
reasons.
Maggie Bowman-Jones is a recent graduate of University of
Virginia. Her minor in Environmental Science, as well as her goal to become the
world’s best babysitter, led her to Arcadia Farm, where she plans to help kids understand
vegetables and farming! She hopes to come away from the summer having guided
campers’ interest in farming, cooking, sustainability, and friendship. If she
were a vegetable, she would most certainly be a beet. Not only do they boast
epic nutritional value, but their fabulous pigmentation is enough to turn
anyone’s head!
Paul Burgess developed an interest in food and food culture while
attending VCU for anthropology. Having witnessed different
approaches to food access and cultivation at home, and while doing limited
field work abroad, he decided to expand his interests by becoming chef.
Paul would like to learn how to better understand and explain
sustainable food and its great potential and also how to effectively cultivate
it. His spirit veggie is an eggplant who wishes he was a tomato.
Stefanie Rhodes is a Mississippi Native with a master’s
degree in public health from Drexel University. As a graduate student at the
Drexel University School of Public Health, she helped develop and implement a
food access program in North Philadelphia and conducted qualitative research on
community violence and mental health systems. Stefanie has a passion for
health education and is looking forward to utilizing her public health
background to educate the Arcadia campers about healthy eating and food
exploration. If Stefanie were a vegetable, she would be asparagus.
Ina Enatsu is very excited to contribute to the Farm Camp as
an Evaluation Intern! She is passionate about evaluations, and believes that
evaluations will help to make the Farm Camp better each year. Originally from
Japan, she just graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor’s degree in
International Relations, with a focus in Nutrition, Global Health and the
Environment. Ina has extensive knowledge on Evaluation and Sustainable
Agriculture, and has volunteered at Soup kitchens and other nutritional
programs. Ina thinks the camp will be a great way for campers to learn from
counselors, other campers and the nature! Welcome all!
Maggie Johnston is an Arcadia Farm Camp Intern. On the farm, she will be helping out the counselors as well as the
campers. Behind the scenes she will be posting updates on camp activities on
social media sites. She is an environmental science student in her senior year
at the University of Mary Washington, and is passionate about sustainable
agriculture and working with children! In her spare time she enjoys reading,
swing dancing, and Irish music.
