We came across a free teacher trip and summer professional development opportunity with a focus your stomach will love—food. We know it’s rare to find innovative, hands-on PD—especially outside a dreary conference room. So when we discovered Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture’s 2018 Two-Day Summer Sessions, located on a gorgeous 80-acre farm in New York’s Hudson Valley, it was a no-brainer to make sure every eligible teacher we know applies immediately.
Let’s take in the view for a moment, shall we:
About Stone Barns Center Summer Sessions for High School Teachers
This free teacher trip gives high school teachers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland a chance to join a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Stone Barns Center. If you’re passionate about food and interested in piloting a food studies curriculum at your school, this program is for you.
Food Studies Curriculum
Stone Barns Center’s food studies curriculum dives deep into the question of why food matters. It aligns with science, English, social studies and more. It also dovetails with health and culinary arts initiatives. The lessons explore food’s relationship to culture, the environment, and social justice. Your students learn critical cooking skills through accompanying Food Labs. The goal is to create “food citizens,” individuals who understand that their food choices have a meaningful impact on personal, environmental and community health.
By attending the Stone Barns Summer Sessions, you’ll get an overview of the course and three lesson plans with Cooking Labs. You’ll also spend active time on the farm, learn about topics pertinent to teaching about food, and cook together as a group.
Just take a look at some of your Summer Sessions classmates:
Or imagine learning in this “classroom”:
The food studies curriculum is designed to help students become thoughtful eaters, confident cooks, and advocates for a healthier food system. The chosen teachers have the honor of pioneering this important subject at their schools. We also love that there’s an emphasis on bringing the Stone Barns Center curriculum to schools in underresourced areas.
Check out how this high school teacher revamped her English curriculum to focus on food systems and structures of power after her free teacher trip to Stone Barns last summer.
Picture your own students creating this edible work of art:
Who’s eligible to attend?
The requirements to apply to the Stone Barns Center Summer Sessions are simple. You need:
- at least one year of full-time teaching experience in any subject and
- the willingness and ability to pilot Stone Barns Center food studies curriculum in your high school during the 2018–19 school year.
That’s it!
When is this free teacher trip?
Session I: August 2–3, 2018
Session II: August 16–17, 2018
What’s included in the trip?
- Reimbursement of up to $300 for some travel expenses
- Lodging at a nearby school dorm, if needed, with transportation to and from the center
- Most meals during the program
- Access to the Stone Barns Center food studies curriculum
The application deadline is June 5, 2018. The application is available here.
Twenty-five teachers for each training, a total of 50 teachers, will be accepted to the program, and we want to get you in. Just promise that we’ll get invites to meals starring beautiful, farm-fresh ingredients like these:
Here’s to a delicious experience ahead for you and your students!
About Stone Barns Center
Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is located in New York’s Hudson Valley. The sprawling 80-acre grounds house a nonprofit farm and educational center unlike any in the country. With a mission to improve the way the US eats and farms, Stone Barns uses their farm as an outdoor classroom for students, teachers, and farmers.
This program is made possible by the generous support of 
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