support their teammates by putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. Their goal was to move from the starting line to the finish line 6 feet away without ever, ever separating their ankles from each other. If they separated, with honesty and integrity, they needed to go back to the starting line and begin again. The students were challenged to come up with a plan, share their

strategies and then come to an agreement on how best to execute their challenge.

As the challenge proceeded, it was apparent the Red team’s strategy was working best. Rob Macri, the Farm Educational Director, spoke with the team as they crossed the finish line to remind them to feel awesome about what they just accomplished, but also that the most important part of the challenge was to go back and encourage their fellow

teammates. Rob pointed out to them that the color of their teams were very purposefully chosen because when you combine red, purple and orange you get the color brown and, at the end of the day, the students are actually all members of the awesome brown team.

The students from Amherst Street Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire realized almost instantly just how much they could accomplish when it didn’t matter who got the credit. What became apparent was that if they worked together as a team, they began to achieve together as a team.

When we asked them what makes a great team, our students let us know exactly what it takes: Hard work. Sportsmanship. Friendship. Practice. Courage. Belief in yourself. Trust. Listening. Understanding. Agreeing to the plan. Putting the group’s needs in front of your own needs. And so with that in mind the students were tasked with two initial teamwork activities – a sports challenge called Welded Ankles and a Farm task involving wood stacking for the Sugar Shack.

For the Welded Ankles challenge the students were formed into three teams – the Red, Orange and Purple teams -- to put into practice their very definition of teamwork. But going in they all understand the accomplishment is in finishing the challenge... not who comes in first or last but the satisfaction of having worked together to complete the challenge.

Each team had to place their feet on the ‘starting’ line rope, touching their ankles to the team member next to them and

• MOOS FROM THE FARM is a Registered Service Mark of Farms For City Kids Foundation, Inc.• FARMS FOR CITY KIDS & DESIGN is a Registered Service Mark of Farms For City Kids Foundation, Inc. • LESSONS FOR A LIFETIME is a Registered Service Mark of Farms For City Kids Foundation, Inc.• Farms For City Kids is a 501(C)3 non-profit foundation • © 2014 Farms For City Kids Foundation, Inc.

Karl

i Hag

edor

n

Chai

rwom

an

Jim

Hag

edor

n

Vice

Cha

irm

an

Chai

rman

and

CEO

The

Scot

ts M

iracl

e-Gr

o Co

mpa

ny

Rob

McM

ahon

Trea

sure

r/Se

cret

ary

Vice

Pre

side

nt, H

aged

orn

Part

ners

hip

LP

Dar

by B

radl

ey

Spec

ial A

ssis

tant

Verm

ont L

and

Trus

t

Robe

rt A

llen

Chris

Hag

edor

n

Mic

hael

Kle

in

Alex

andr

e Pe

llici

er

Chee

se M

aker

Bret

t She

vack

Foun

der,

CEO

Bran

d In

itiat

ives

Gro

up, L

LC

Den

ise

Stum

p

Exec

utiv

e Vi

ce P

resi

dent

,

Glob

al H

uman

Res

ourc

es

The

Scot

ts M

iracl

e-Gr

o Co

mpa

ny

Cath

erin

e Ce

cil T

aylo

r

Regi

ster

ed N

urse

Pete

r S. T

reib

er

Exec

utiv

e Vi

ce P

resi

dent

Arth

ur J

. Gal

lagh

er

Risk

Mgm

t. Se

rvic

es. I

nc.

Todd

Whi

te

FAR

MS

FO

R C

ITY

KID

S F

OU

ND

AT

ION

BO

AR

D O

F D

IREC

TOR

SN

on-P

rofit

Org

.U

.S. P

osta

geP

A I D

Lanc

aste

r, PA

Pe

rmit

No.

472

FARM

S FO

R CI

TY K

IDS

FOU

ND

ATIO

N, I

NC.

44 S

OU

TH B

AYLE

S AV

ENU

E . S

UIT

E 21

8PO

RT W

ASH

INGT

ON

, NY

1105

0

It is amazing when students are exposed to something so unique and different from their every day experience that they seamlessly focus on the new experience and, in the process, the traditional ‘at school’ dynamics of attitude, judgment, avoidance and separateness fade away. In its place, acts of cooperation, willingness and side by side partnership become the norm as Farms For City Kids provides an important teamwork platform to change behaviors and attitudes that might otherwise exist in a school/classroom environment.

Working together through our Lessons For a Lifetime® activities students naturally let their guard and inhibitions down as they become absorbed in the task at hand and enjoy each other for the pure joy of sharing a new experience together.

info@farmsforcitykids.org

Moosfrom the

FARM

®

farmsforcitykids.org

2014 Fal l Newsletter

THE MOSTAMAZING

SURPRISES!

TEAMWORK UNCOVERS. . .

From inside the wood shed team members are standing on some of the established wood tiers and identifying where the wood is not as deep - filling in empty spots to level each tier as they go. Students switch positions throughout the task so everyone has a chance to participate in each of the stacking tasks. They realize flat sided pieces of wood are important

to level the tiers and make it easier for team members who need to stand on them. They demonstrate the art of communication by letting the student next in line know how heavy each piece of wood is - figuring out that the very heavy pieces should be laid down at the bottom to start a new tier rather than trying to hand it up higher to the person on the top tier.

George asks the students if someone knew what teamwork

strategy they just used that worked best for them. Says student Zianna, “When we all stood in a line beside the wood pile and we passed a piece of wood up to the person in front of us to move it along. We not only have to stack the wood but we have to let the person in front of us know we’re holding a heavy piece - we are communicating

to them... kind of like giving them a warning. I think that’s what makes us a good team.”

Student Miguel says, “When I’m standing on the stack and I see an area where the wood is not as deep, kind of like a hole that the other kids can fill in, I try to fill in those places when the wood is handed to me. I like to put as many flat sided pieces of wood in those places so the other students have a better time standing

on the stack.” At the end of the exercise they all stand back and look at what they accomplished together and you hear the soft whispers, “Look what we just did” and “I can’t believe we did all that. It was so small when we started.”

For more information, please contact: Rob Macri, Educational Director 802.484.5822 or Alida Curcio, Chief Development Officer 516.767.5757 info@farmsforcitykids.org

“At first it seemed like it was going to be super hard to do,” said student Kyle. “But then we put our heads together and got more confidence in ourselves. And we kept trying until we did it. I didn’t know any of the fourth graders on the trip but now everyone’s become like a second family to me. When we are together, we work together to get things done and that’s what we just did here for this challenge -- we got it done! And you know what, even though we got it done first, it almost felt better as we cheered the other teams on until they got to complete the challenge as well. It just felt so cool.”

Says Principal Jean, “It is amazing to observe how much a child can change and grow over the course of just one short week. Students unlikely to participate or engage in a classroom activity were the first ones with their hands up volunteering for an unknown task – a task that would usually be the most challenging. Yet they would dive into it with 100% effort and willingness to do whatever it took to get it done. Students that were assigned into random groups on Monday became cohesive teams by Friday. Teams who had learned to problem solve and work together towards a common goal, constantly encouraged one another with nothing but positive and reassuring words.”

“I spend the majority of the school year teaching lessons on character education, conflict resolution and teamwork,” says School Counselor Caylene. “At the Farm I was amazed and impressed with the focus on teamwork, perseverance, positive communication, confidence, responsibility, respect, safety and

leadership. Every activity on the Farm encompassed these traits. I was proud to see our students work through challenges by using positive communication, testing their ideas and developing new strategies if those that were tested were not successful.”

Amherst staff:Katie, Christina and Caylene

Together Everyone Accomplishes More!

TEAMWORKAll three of the teams successfully completed their Welded Ankles challenge and then it was on to the Sugar Shack to stack the wood for next spring’s production of Spring Brook Farm’s maple syrup. The stacking of the wood is an important job as,

done correctly, it allows the sugar maker to streamline the maple syrup production by easily pulling pieces of wood from the pile to feed the fire.

The students’ goal here is to develop a system to take wood from the random wood

pile and stack the pieces inside the wood shed in the easiest, most efficient way possible. The important thing is not how pretty the wood looks when it’s stacked, but instead that the cut wood inside the shed form both a horizontal pattern and a cribbing pattern. Most of the wood lays flat and is stacked horizontally. But on the right side a cribbing pattern is established with wood placed to give the tiers more stability in the stack and keep the wood from toppling over.

Farm Educator George advises the students that each piece of wood has a left and a right side and usually a flat side for easy stacking. Some pieces are thick, some are thin and some are really small. The wood needs to be stacked in tiers from the bottom of the wood shed to its roof. As a result, the team will need to figure out how best to work to get the wood stacked properly. And so the discussions ensue. After much trial and error, the team decides the best way to start stacking is to form a line beside the random wood pile and pass the pieces of wood along the line to hand it off to the team members in the wood shed who are stacking the different wood tiers.

At Farms For City Kids we describe teamwork as a series of small steps, taken one at a time, as our

students journey together to accomplish tasks they would have otherwise thought impossible. At the start, some fear they may be doing it wrong but

they are encouraged to keep working through that fear. And they soon come to realize the big picture

is not always visible until they reach the end of their journey.

Says teacher Christina, “Farms For City Kids gives our students the sense of pride that they are

capable of things they never IMAGINED they would encounter or be able to accomplish. Whether it

be cheering one another on during team building challenges, thanking and congratulating one

another on their day's accomplishments during night journal reflections or encouraging their

friends to make it through a task. Simply stated, they now realize firsthand that less ME and more

WE makes them an awesome team."

Because it is through teamwork they realize they ALWAYS have others on their side – their fellow students, their teachers and the Farm staff. And

when the group was asked to reflect on what they were most proud of during the week, one student summed it up best when he replied, "This. Right

here. All of us being here and making it through the week together. That is what I’m most proud of."

We could not have said it better ourselves!