Or we could suggest the whole thing to an existing school -- for example, one of the KC area private schools -- as a new program. Sell it as a farm which could grow all the vegetables (at a minimum) for the school cafeteria, and which students could work on to learn about work, agriculture, and systems.
With 300 kids eating one meal per day, we would need about 3-5 acres. If we were to also grow our fertility (dairy cows, or egg flock, or windrow meadow composting), we would need another 10-15 acres.
Necessary equipment would include a tractor, or at least a walk-behind, a greenhouse, and irrigation infrastructure. Staffing needs would be at least two.
PROFESSIONAL BIO:
Matt is a system (self) within a system (society) within a system (biosphere) who teaches about systems. He turned his own at-risk youth around and went on to work in leadership positions with kids and young adults for 14 years at one school, two farms, three residential homes, and four experiential wilderness programs. He has spent 1,000 nights outdoors, traveled extensively in developing nations, operated large machines, worked in carpentry and landscaping, written policy reports and grants, and is an artist and graphic designer. A student of poetry at Berkeley, he returned to the academe to study social systems (Master of Social Work) and economic/political systems (Master of Public Administration) at the University of Washington, graduating as part of the Pi Alpha Alpha honors society. He developed the experiential curriculum for a respected wilderness therapy program, built the back-end administrative structure for a youth gardening program, has been farming for three years, and believes ecological agriculture provides the perfect context for the study of complex systems.
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