[Nfb-history] {Disarmed} FW: Farm to school

Sat Sep 19 23:46:42 UTC 2015

Hello Colleagues:

     I thought the following might be of interest.

Regards,

Robert

From: Perkins History & Happenings [mailto:SupportPerkins at Perkins.org] 
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2015 10:31 AM
To: Robert Jaquiss <rjaquiss at earthlink.net>
Subject: Farm to school

Fun Fact: Produce grown on the Perkins campus is donated to the Watertown
Food Pantry, giving students valuable community service experience.
 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=yPKWGJ8PYq-lKX1DfOyaPw> View this
email as a webpage.

 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=0t-Du3h9P3NWCdUApqxCDQ> 

<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/fy16-history-and-
happenings-sept-outlook-header.jpg> 

September 2015

History & Happenings

Farm to School

Upon becoming Perkins School for the Blind's third director in 1907,
<http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=TY8YKTgzwE-ZjVmcgTkiTw> Edward Allen
quickly realized that the growing school needed a new home. Five years
later, Perkins moved from South Boston to its current 38.5-acre campus in
Watertown, Massachusetts on the banks of the Charles River. Originally the
estate of whaling and sugar merchant Josiah Stickney, the new campus came
with an orchard and farmland.

The move allowed for an expanded curriculum that included planting crops and
raising animals. At the time, students learned basic gardening skills by
tending orchards and gardens that provided fruits and vegetables. In 1934,
profits from the poultry business maintained by Perkins' Lower School boys
defrayed the costs of an airplane ride organized as part of a year-long
transportation study. Horticulture therapy was later introduced as a
part-time pilot program and expanded to a full-time program when Perkins
hired its first horticultural therapist in 1980. 

 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=GedU-7i76d8D6my7wy6zeA> 

A group of Upper School boys walk down a path carrying rakes against a
backdrop of leafless trees circa 1943. Due to a staff shortage during WWII,
students and faculty members took up rakes, shovels, brooms, and other
equipment and completely cleaned the Perkins campus. The Upper School boys
cleaned every afternoon for three weeks and it was said that the grounds
were never more beautiful than they were that spring.

Originally housed on the roof of the old gymnasium, in 2003 the
5,000-square-foot
<http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=Y-ceMfw8zAgSXv93VJK6KQ> Thomas and
Bessie Pappas Horticulture Center opened its doors. Today, students of all
ages and abilities participate in innovative plant-oriented programs at the
Center. Plants are chosen to emphasize a variety of colors, tastes, scents,
textures and sounds to achieve as meaningful a sensory experience as
possible.

Perkins' Horticulture Center offers a variety of learning opportunities-with
more than half of the school's residential and day students participating in
activities there. Some programs, like bud vase arranging and a weekly
Farmer's Market, reinforce vocational skills. Others, like horticulture
therapy sessions in the Center's greenhouse, allow students with visual
impairments to engage in tactile exploration of the natural world in a safe
and nurturing environment. In keeping with Perkins' ongoing commitment to
<http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=bTcrXCW1v26xZ9SCKo64Lg> transition,
many students go on to use their newfound horticulture skills in off campus
work.

 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=LM8GuWHQ0fFCrRfmhVrzBQ> Read More
About Perkins' Horticulture CenterRead More 

<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/fy16-history-and-
happenings-sept-sec2-then40000.jpg> 

<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/fy16-history-and-
happenings-sept-sec2-now.jpg> 

Farming at Perkins

Then & Now

On the left,In the top image, two boys kneel outside in the grass on
Perkins' Watertown campus holding feeding bowls for two goats. During the
first half of the 20th century, Perkins School for the Blind offered
agriculture and animal husbandry as part of the curriculum. These activities
provided students with exercise and useful chores, as well as eggs, poultry,
fruit and vegetables for student meals, as highlighted in a
<http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=uokD_HcMnciRDXMdhziztg> 1933 newspaper
clipping.

On the right,In the bottom image, a pair of baby dairy goats stole the show
and student's hearts during the fourth annual Farm to School Festival on
October 2, 2014. Perkins students had a hands-on, educational experience
identifying plants, visiting activity stations and sampling a mouth-watering
smorgasbord made from local ingredients, including vegetables and herbs from
the campus garden.

Support our work

Since 1829, Perkins has been committed to helping children and adults who
are blind, deafblind, or visually impaired. Your donation today will fund
the teachers, training and technology that help people with a visual
impairment prepare for all of life's opportunities.

 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=mrj8SeMrYuhjquuzQJazrQ> Donate now 

<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/fy15-history-_-ha
ppenings-responsive-image-005.jpg> 

The Perkins Archives include collections related to the history of the
education of the blind and deafblind, institutional archives, and
correspondence of significant figures in the school's history, such as Helen
Keller, Annie Sullivan and Samuel Gridley Howe.

To learn more about the Perkins Archives and sign up for their newsletter,
visit  <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=HQvGjdy2mkKNEJm4Dnc-5A>
PerkinsArchives.org. 

  <http://support.perkins.org/site/PixelServer?j=L-WvyCluFamkdrSi5Po-dw> 

 <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=-TBzNP2-IbTpYqxSIT7xkw>
<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/footer-spacer.gif
>  <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=Txfw2Q8P423SPSJThLhS8g>
<https://secure2.convio.net/psb/images/content/pagebuilder/footer-spacer.gif
>  <http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=lXtAxIO5EJaREIRlgmqYmA> 

Office of the Perkins Trust
175 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472
P: 617-972-7328
F: 617-972-7334
 <mailto:supportperkins at perkins.org> Contact Us 

This email was sent by Perkins School for the Blind to
<mailto:rjaquiss at earthlink.net> rjaquiss at earthlink.net. Please add
<mailto:supportperkins at perkins.org> supportperkins at perkins.org to your
address book to ensure our emails continue to reach you. 

<http://support.perkins.org/site/CO?i=ElDdO4g_tVZ-I0pBfyjC5xJHx6sQJaOS&cid=1
761&i=&cid=0> UNSUBSCRIBE OR
<http://support.perkins.org/site/R?i=WXYKZtTKsullnIv4oD0TEQ> MANAGE YOUR
PREFERENCES

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-history_nfbnet.org/attachments/20150919/6bff1065/attachment.html>