| A Big Thanks to NewChapter for their generous donation! ... | 
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Greetings!
Springtime at Kindle Farm bursts with life, even as all of this up and down weather confuses us. As we head into the 4th and final quarter of the school year, we start spending even more time outdoors, appreciating the beauty of our campus and working hard to make sure we offer it a high level of care. In this month's Newsletter, you will find 4 articles relating to daily life at Kindle Farm. All of these provide examples of how students at Kindle Farm engage in learning throughout the school day, from practical math lessons in the classroom, to experiential learning in the forest, social skills, frustration tolerance and self-esteem building on the mountain, and a huge range of recreational, vocational, therapeutic, life-skills, and relationship-building activities in the afternoon. We are lucky to be able to share these experiences with our students and are proud of the way they set Kindle Farm apart. We try not to gloat, but we really do feel very lucky to be here with our students! We hope that, wherever you are today, you feel lucky to be there, too!
And while you are reflecting on the things that make you grateful in your life, take a moment to plug May 17th, 2012 right into your calendar! This is the date of our yearly Open House. We hope to see all of our students, families, and friends there!! |
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Thank You NewChapter !!
The Kindle Farm School is so excited by NewChapter's donation of $5,000 to our programming!
This money will go to support richness and diversity of our Vocational Program. This is their 3rd annual donation and it really makes a HUGE difference to our students.
NewChapter takes an active interest in supporting both local non-profits and larger organizations with global impact. See their amazing list of philanthropic efforts here.
list
This year the money is going to be used to fund a large project that builds our capacity to manage our forest and farmland. We will be buying a farm vehicle that will allow us to pull wood from our forest, transport new maple lines around our 99 acres and increase the ability to provide emergency evacuation.
Further, this money will allow students to develop skills in the trades that are alive and well in the surrounding area. Forest Management, Agriculture, and Carpentry allow our students to learn new skills while working with a team and using a "hands-on" approach. See more about our Vocational Program here.
Kindle Farm expresses heartfelt thanks to New Chapter for supporting our boys, our community, and our world.
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Reflections from Stratton Mountain
Written By: Chris Houston
 "Not much of a winter, eh?"
This is something I have heard a lot recently. Not true if you were one of the thirty Kindle Farmers who went to Stratton Mountain Resort this season. For us, winter was awesome! Every Wednesday, students and staff from all three programs would load up the farm truck with skis and snowboards and make our way to the mountain, from the bone chilling days in January, to the sunny t-shirt days of March. Our students had a winter adventure they won't soon forget.
Read More ...
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What Is So Important About Trees?
Written By: Amber O'Reilly
 "What's so important about trees anyway?" At least one student from each of my five vocational studies classes has asked me this question over the past two months while working on identification of local trees. The first time I found myself off-guard and at least ten possible responses sprang to my mind. As I was about to list my reasons to the students, I caught myself and remembered that as teachers you foster students thinking by posing their questions right back to them. So I opened it up to the whole class and asked, "Why do YOU think trees are so important for us to know about?"
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Kindle Farm Activities:where the best gets better!
Written By: Lance Cutler
Years ago when I first started working at Kindle Farm, it was obvious from the first moment how effective the relationship based model we use is for our students. Watching veteran staff interact on a personal level, while fostering an overwhelming sense of community and family was inspiring. But one of the first things I noticed about these relationships was how the diversity of our schedule allowed us the opportunity to really connect with kids. By breaking our days into two equally important parts, we present multiple ways in which we can relate with and teach young men to learn more effectively.
Read More ...
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Life Skills in Math?
Written By: Clair Abel
 My Life Skills Math students have had traditional math courses in the past, but still remain weak in the area of basic computation. They are seniors and will graduate within the next year. The purpose of the class is to encourage them to use their strengths to solve everyday math problems.
Our three guidelines are:
1) Use the fastest method
2) Use the strategy that that is the most comfortable for you 3) Use the strategy that you know will give you the correct answer
Read More ... |
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The Mission of The Kindle Farm School... is to provide a physically and emotionally safe school environment using a combination of diverse activities, and strong supervison so students can discard old patterns and habits, and discover new ways to communicate, problem-solve, and learn more effectively.
Sincerely,
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The Kindle Farm School Community
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