Sofia and Adrian Carlisi
NJ Farm to School Volunteer Ambassador Program Creators
A Top Tomato DUO! Announcing Adrian and Sofia Carlisi, two shining students at The Lawrenceville School, as this summer's Top Tomatoes for their dedication to creating and piloting the newly launched NJ Farm to School Volunteer Ambassador Program!
Designed to be replicable as a club or community partnership program, the Volunteer Ambassador Program allows high school students - with the guidance of an advisor - to plan and implement Farm to School activities, lessons, tastings, and even field trips for and in partnership with elementary and preschools. Volunteering their time to teach and engage with younger students, Ambassadors would drive the curriculum from lesson planning and scheduling, to the actual in-person teaching and facilitating of Farm to School education.
Seeking to create a program that extended the educational resources they felt fortunate to have in their own learning journey, Adrian and Sofia dedicated time in the summer before and throughout their junior year to creating, piloting, and revising the program. Partnering with a preschool for a summer pilot run, as well as with HomeFront's Joys, Hopes, and Dreams Program in Trenton as a series of afterschool activities, the two worked in tandem with the NJDA Farm to School team to fine-tune their template. In April, they were also invited to share their program as virtual panel speakers for the '23 New England Farm to Institution Summit held in Providence, RI!
We applaud our young leaders for their commitment to building out a vision, for creating something, not just for themselves, but for their peers and others of all ages, that offers enriching leadership opportunities and engaging, hands-on learning experiences in the areas of food/food growing education and knowledge of farming and the local farming community. Cheers to our founding Volunteer Ambassadors!
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