2019 Summer Camps at the Youth Farm
The Youth Farm at Hilltop Urban Farm has successfully completed its first season of summer camps! This year, camps focused on age groups, including Sprouts Camp (preK-Kindergarten), Seedlings Camp (1st to 3rd grade), Farm Kids Camp (4th to 5th grade), and Young Farmers Camp (6th to 8th grade).
Each week featured partnerships with program providers, including storytelling, nutrition and cooking with Power Up, ecology lesson with Allegheny Land Trust, composting with DECO Resources, beekeeping with Bee Boy Honey, and farm entrepreneurship with Penn State Extension.
Power Up teaches the Sprouts Camp about nutrition through cooking lessons.
A high school crew from the Student Conservation Association joined the team for six weeks, working on infrastructure and site maintenance projects. High school students from New Academy Charter High School volunteered at the farm each week.
High school students workers from Student Conservation Association and Learn and Earn.
Summer camps were capped off by a Youth Farmer’s Market that was hosted in Mt Oliver City and featured produce grown, harvested and sold by Hilltop youth. The market sold nearly $400 worth of produce and flowers grown at Hilltop Urban Farm!
Students host the Youth Farmer’s Market as part of the entrepreneurship curriculum with Penn State Extension.
In the first four months of youth programs, Hilltop Urban Farm has hosted 443 youth, exceeding the goal of 250 youth for the first twelve months! The largest group of youth engaged are high school students, grades 9 to 12, at 160 youth or 36% of total youth engaged. The smallest group of students engaged are preK and Kindergarten students, totaling only 3% of students engaged.