Looking to the Future: Tours of U of Vermont & Knoll Farm for SCA Manchester Conservation Leadership Corps

To celebrate the first week of school, SCA Manchester’s Conservation Leadership Corps recently took a trip to Vermont for a tour of the University of Vermont and a visit to Knoll Farm. Leaving shortly after school ended, we made the 3 hour journey up to Jericho Research Forest, a piece of land owned by UVM and used as a part of many classes. We were greeted by three staff members and lots of homemade brick oven pizza! On Saturday, we took part in the admissions tour, and were given a personalized tour of the campus by an undergrad student named Jordan. After visiting the dorms, dining halls and colleges, SCA Manchester was welcomed into the Rubenstein School’s Aiken Center by a group of undergraduate students. We all sat around a table and ate lunch, while the UVMstudents discussed with our students the experience of transitioning into college and the neat aspects of the Rubenstein School and UVM. It was a great glimpse into life as a college student at UVM and everyone was given lots of information about the college application process and fields of study at UVM.

To finish off the day of college visits, we all headed down to Church St. in downtown Burlington, to get a sense of the city. We got to wander around Outdoor Gear Exchange, and watch a street performer stack chairs, climb them, and then juggle with torches. Once everyone was good and tired, we drove back to the forest and finished off our day with a camp fire and 5 rounds of Mafia!

On Sunday, we made a trip to Knoll Farm, a working farm and center for whole communities in Waitsfield, Vermont. Eric and Eddie, two employees at Knoll Farm, gave us a wonderful tour of the farm and taught us about the sort of work that Knoll Farm does. Not only are they a working farm, but they also host retreats for people around the country. Their goal is to connect people and communities with the land and conservation. We learned about the day to day activities during a retreat and got to explore the camp that they have set up for participants. It was a perfect day to wander around the farm. The fall season felt as if it was in full swing and everyone enjoyed exploring the area.