PCF Featured in MiSTEM Network Newsletter
Partridge Creek Farm has partnered with the MiSTEM Network since 2020 on multiple projects to help enhance agriculture-based learning in Ishpeming Public Schools. They have put out their most recent newsletter with a feature about our partnership and projects.
Read the excerpt below from the MiSTEM Network Newsletter.
Learning Outside The Classroom With Partridge Creek Farm
Region 15 Director Chris Standerford partnered with Partridge Creek Farm, a nonprofit organization managing community gardens and educational programs, on a project named Growing Future Farmers, Healthy Eaters, and Leaders. The partnership started during the summer of 2020 and extended into the 2020-21 school year.
The goal of this project was to design and launch both an intergenerational farm and an educational framework. As the project continued, place-based professional learning events, called re:GENERATE and the Farm to School Institute, were held to help educators connect to community and industry partners to educate learners on food resilience.
Standerford helped develop a curriculum framework for agriculture-based learning in Ishpeming Public Schools to explore place-based learning techniques. The curriculum includes an Agriculture Career and Technical Education program at the high school level, with hopes to continue with Northern Michigan University students.
The curriculum looks through the lens of health and food security. The city of Ishpeming and Ishpeming Public Schools had been working to increase healthy eating habits and provide both the community and young learners with engagement opportunities.
Going into 2025, Region 15 continues to provide support to expand the Farm to School Institute and the impacted grade levels, with exciting plans for the summer program. Standerford encourages giving voice to students and communities in order to find topics/issues people are invested in. Once that happens, partnerships naturally develop from interested stakeholders that want to get involved.
Partridge Creek Farms, re:GENERATE and the Farm to School Institute demonstrate successful partnerships with Marquette-Alger RESA, Northern Michigan University, the Marquette Food Co-op, Grow and Lead, MSU Extension, Marquette County, the city of Ishpeming, Ishpeming Public Schools and the MiSTEM Network.
Check out the Partridge Creek Farms Instagram page to see more of their work.
