Regional Group: Northeast

Welcome, welcome, Northeast gardeners! Let's drop some quick introductions to get to know each other (and see if there's anyone you might know - or didn't know - is in your area)! 

I'm the Kids Garden Community Manager at KidsGardening, currently gardening in Hollis, NH but my hometown is Highgate, VT. I have no formal youth gardening experience but I do garden with my niece and nephews (which means we're picking lots of green tomatoes, digging large holes in the garden, and insisting that the garden be planted with corn and nothing else). I'm definitely an amateur gardener and hoping to learn so much from all of you! 

Who else is here???

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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
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I am a K-5 elementary science teacher on the east end of Long Island, NY. I am managing our school garden which provides food for the cafeteria and has a pollinator garden. I am also a 2016 graduate of Cornell's Master Gardener Volunteer program which has given me an education on all the basics of gardening. 

I have my own backyard garden for veg and pollinator plants and I have my own bee hives.

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Debra Kimmelman
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I'm a 4th grade science teacher outside Pittsburgh, PA. I also help run our afterschool garden club with 5th & 6th graders. We have 3 Gardyns, a lot of shop lights/grow lights, and a greenhouse (still working on getting it set up and running smoothly). I think I will eventually belong in the MidAtlantic group here (but not yet)! 

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Monica Naugler
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2024 10:13:18 AM
From: Debra Kimmelman
Subject: Who's in this group?

I am a K-5 elementary science teacher on the east end of Long Island, NY. I am managing our school garden which provides food for the cafeteria and has a pollinator garden. I am also a 2016 graduate of Cornell's Master Gardener Volunteer program which has given me an education on all the basics of gardening. 

I have my own backyard garden for veg and pollinator plants and I have my own bee hives.

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Debra Kimmelman
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I'm a Farm to Early Care and Education Coordinator at the Rural Health Network in Binghamton, NY! I don't currently garden with children directly but we are working to increase the capacity for Farm to ECE within our region as well as statewide. Outside of my day job, I'm newly involved in an egg operation!

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Kevin Davidson
Rural Health Network of South Central NY
Binghamton NY
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Hello!  I'm the Statewide Early Education Manager for Mass Audubon.  Although I spent 14 years teaching at a farm- and nature-based preschool, I only really got involved in Farm to ECE about 3 years ago.  Since then I've create resources and trainings for early educations (birth-age 8) around how to do farm-based education with their students.  I've been thrilled to see how many local, regional and national conferences have welcomed me as I present on the topic!  As farm to EC really takes off in the northeast I'm so excited to meet more people who are involved and to share resources!

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Rina Zampieron
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I am the Science & Garden Coordinator/Specialist for K-6 in Amherst and Pelham in Western MA. My background is in neuroscience and middle school science teaching, but I love gardening at home and with students. Looking forward to learning with you all!

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Jen Reese (she/her)
Science & Garden Coordinator
Amherst & Pelham Public Schools
Amherst, MA
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Hello! I'm the Education and Outreach Coordinator with Maine Agriculture in the Classroom. We provide resources, grants, professional development, and more to educators throughout the state of Maine with the effort to increase Agricultural Literacy. 
At home we have a backyard garden primarily managed by my husband, and our daughters (3 & 5 years old) like to help!

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Kelsey Fortin
Maine Agriculture in the Classroom
Augusta ME
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Hi, all!

I'm Em Shipman, KidsGardening's executive director. I was born and raised in NH and have lived in VT for the last 20 years or so. 

I'm here to help, so please reach out if you need support, especially if you are in NH/VT's Upper Valley Region.

I am a former landscape designer, gardener, and cut flower grower. I also manage my son's preschool garden and garden with kiddos at home. 

Happy gardening!

Em

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Em Shipman (she/her)
Executive Director
KidsGardening
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-14-2024 02:12:03 PM
From: Kelsey Fortin
Subject: Who's in this group?

Hello! I'm the Education and Outreach Coordinator with Maine Agriculture in the Classroom. We provide resources, grants, professional development, and more to educators throughout the state of Maine with the effort to increase Agricultural Literacy. 
At home we have a backyard garden primarily managed by my husband, and our daughters (3 & 5 years old) like to help!

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Kelsey Fortin
Maine Agriculture in the Classroom
Augusta ME
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Hi everyone. I am "Farmer Celia" at Surprise Lake Camp, a children's sleepaway camp in Cold Spring, NY.  (About 60 miles north of NYC).  I run the farm/garden program at camp and introduce kids (ages 7-15) to various fruits, veggies, and herbs.  I also teach the kids about pollinators, organic produce, composting, drip irrigation, and other cool topics like that.  

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Celia Baczkowski
Surprise Lake Camp
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Hello All! 

I am a Student Support Specialist working with 7-12th graders in Barre, Vermont at Spaulding Alternative Education Program. I am a UVM Master Gardener student, set to complete the course in May. I run the Farm to School and Gardening program at SEA and love working with our students and also have a large home garden too! 

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Alyssa Pratt
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Hello Everyone!

I am Caitlin Mandel, a farm to school coordinator at the RI Dept. of Education and co-chair of the RI Farm to School Network, it's nice to meet you all!

At this time I am not currently gardening with children (except for hopefully my 6 year old now that we just moved and can have a garden again!) but am working to support schools in RI who have their own gardens. 

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Caitlin Mandel
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Hi everyone! I am a Massachusetts Master Gardener, a Kids Gardening Community Connector, and the Kids Gardening Community Massachusetts Coordinator. I previously helped design and co-lead school gardens in Ohio and Missouri as a parent volunteer, and now I garden with 2nd and 3rd grade students at a school garden in Medfield, MA.

While the Master Gardener program has helped bolster my horticulture knowledge, the Life Lab Certified Garden Educator program helped me learn how to more effectively facilitate student learning in the garden. I am passionate about students learning outdoors during the school day, and I love the idea of us sharing ideas and resources to make it possible for more kids to learn outside.

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Amber Keller
Massachusetts Master Gardener
Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator
Natick, MA
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Hi all,

I'm the Director of Education at Black Rock Forest in Cornwall, NY. I have no youth gardening experience, but we were just awarded a grant and plan to start a garden for K-12 students this spring, so that we can start incorporating it in outdoor learning for this summer. We will be using flowers native to our Forest to promote native pollinators, particularly forest bees, and will hopefully expand to incorporate lessons on composting and how to help native species, as well as become a seed bank to transplant throughout the Forest!

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Jessica Schnell
Black Rock Forest
Cornwall NY
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I am a teacher at a residential school in Red Hook, NY. We have a greenhouse and gardens to use with our students and I am hoping to learn more about how to best do this with you guys. We want to fertilize safely with best practices and really involve the students meaningfully.

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Allison Bell
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Hi Everyone-

It's fun hearing all of your stories and learning about your gardening lives. I grew up in Shelburne, VT where I learned to garden from my mom and granny. I currently teach Forest Preschool at Wright Locke Farm in Winchester, MA. We have a large education there that is maintained by the preschool and summer campers. I also have a front yard veggie garden at home (since the backyard has too much shade). 

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Megan Recupero
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I am an outdoor educator and graduate research student located in Wales, Maine. Implementing a Community Garden in my district for community engagement and use of green space for compassion, continued learning, and gardening of course! The GRO: Community Garden Project is located on-site of a district elementary school in Sabattus, ME. Serving students PreK-2nd and after-school students. The GRO is an 80' x 50' plot with build-out scheduled for the month of May! We also have acquired approximately 1000 sq ft of greenhouse space to begin our lessons in seeds and soil, as well as help to extend the growing season for garden club members. This is a rural district, made up of three communities with very different views. This year's community engagement is centered on bringing AG to the Classroom, both inside and outside, and holding space for Courageous Conversations in the garden. 

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Kelli Gilzow Stowell
Sabattus Recreation Garden Club
Sabattus ME
(she/her)
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I run a school "farming" program in Lexington, MA for toddler - middle school. We have a market garden, food forest and growing dome + are working on incorporating edible and ecological landscaping throughout the campus. In person meetings/visits/exchanges would be very welcome!

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Elise Washburn
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