2011 Farm-Based Educator of the Year

 On November 5th, at the 5th Farm-Based Education Conference at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, the FBEA announced the 2011 Farm-Based Educator of the Year award.  The award was given to:

Jill Keating
Environmental Educator
and the School Field Trip program Manager
Common Ground High School, Urban Farm and Environmental Learning Center
New Haven, CT

Jill is an inspiration for farm-based educators worldwide!

           Rebecca Holcombe, her baby Jonah and Jill Keating,
                     the 2011 Farm-Based Educator of the Year

In addition to a thunderous applause form her fellow farm-based educators at the conference, Jill received a basket full of treats from Dancing Deer Bakery in Boston, MA, a basket of delicious products from Shelburne farms including cheese and maple syrup, bags of potting soil from Vermont Compost and some rugged wear from Carhartt Clothing.  Thank you to these generous donors!

Jill's colleague, Rebecca Holcombe, Director of Community Programs, nominated her for the award and had this to say about Jill:

Jill Keating is an Environmental Educator and the School Field Trip program Manager at Common Ground in New Haven, CT.  Jill joined us as a seasonal camp teacher in the summer of 2010 and stayed on to take over leadership of our growing school field trip program last school year.                 

"In her first year at Common Ground, Jill has made me wonder how we ever managed without her!  She rewrote the curriculum for our school field trips to better align with state education standards and to better differentiate activities for different ages and developmental stages, leading to a huge increase in the number of New Haven children who experienced food right from the farm last school year.

 Jill also established a program for home-schooled children and increased participation in an after school program for middle school children, bringing them back to the farm for several weeks each season to eat, cook, explore, learn, and play. 

She also got involved in the day to day work of the farm, often covering daily animal chores, helping to care for the children’s garden, hauling buckets of sap, shoveling snow, volunteering for special events, and really becoming an important member of our farm and program community.

I know many of these things are similar to the work that we all do every day – caring for our farms and connecting kids to good food and great experiences with nature.  What really made Jill stand out this past year was the amazing challenge she took on last spring and summer. 

After 10 years of serving as director of our school year and summer camp programs, I faced missing my first summer at Common Ground as I anticipated the birth of my first child!  With my baby due in June, Jill took on camp staff training for a team of 75 teens and adults and the day to day management of a camp that served over 600 children in 6 weeks of camp on the farm!

Jill did an incredible job of keeping track of the big picture – managing field trips, communicating with parents, dealing with staff challenges, and all the other things that come with a typical big, busy camp.  Despite her 12+ hour days and being responsible for lots of big, administrative level stuff, Jill still paid attention to the personal needs of children and got to know them well – she knew most campers and their parents by name, and was the first person anyone turned to with a cut knee, a sad camper, or help solving difficult behavior.  She made sure that every child had a truly magical experience on the farm this summer, and my absolute confidence in her allowed me to relax and enjoy summer with my brand new baby. 

I have a strong sense of ownership about our children’s programs at Common Ground, having built the programs and the community for 10 years.  No one believed I would be able to step away and hand over the reins, and I’m not sure I could have given them to anyone but Jill.  In my 10 years at Common Ground, no one has made as big an impact on our programs or forged as many new connections and relationships as Jill has in just one year.  She is a real treasure and Common Ground is so very lucky to have her as part of our farm community."

Following is an excerpt from Melissa Spear, Executive Director, Common Ground High School, Urban Farm and Environmental Learning Center:

"I have had many interactions with parents of Common Ground campers this year and without fail they have let me know with enthusiasm what a fantastic experience their child had at Common Ground's ecology camp this summer, complimenting Jill for running such a high quality program that truly enriched the lives of their child.  While Common Ground has built its children's programs over many years Jill has made an invaluable contribution toward taking them to the next level.  She brings passion and intelligence to everything that she does here at Common Ground, and despite the intensity that goes along with running our children's programs on a day to day basis approaches everything with a very even keel and a level head.  I would be thrilled to see her receive this honor - she is a very deserving candidate."