July ’23 Week 4: Advanced Behavioral Health, Boys and Girls Club, Head Start, Blessings in a Backpack, and more!

On July 24th, we welcomed back Advanced Behavioral Health, this time with four cohorts from their mentorship program! We decided to do a bit of adventure art – searching the property for wildflowers and repurposing old glass bottles as vases. The youth enjoyed the challenge and artistic element to this program. We finished up our day together with some animal visits!

On the 25th, Boys and Girls Club came back – another second visit from one of their youth cohorts. Similarly to last week, we did a fair amount of horse grooming and played the fantastic game ‘camouflage.’ We had the special treat of having some old Head Start kids in their ranks! It’s always such fun to see familiar faces from years ago!

On the 26th, the coordinators for Blessings in a Backpack had their before-school meeting at our lodge. We were delighted that they opted to join us for a hike and animal time. This group was so enthusiastic and engaged! We hope they come back again next year!

On the 26th and 27th, Head Start’s Bernards Brown classrooms came for a visit. We so enjoyed sharing our animals with them and playing the farm-favorite game of extreme outdoor hide and seek in our arboretum. In this game, we hide in groups so as not to lose anyone. It is such fun! On two occasions, our curious flock of young chickens found us in our hiding spots!

On the 28th, I went to Fountain Rock Nature Center to interview for their University of Maryland Extension Master Naturalist course. It was so enlivening to be surrounded by passionate ladies who are all aspiring to know more about our natural world. I will be beginning the course in September and cannot wait to share all my learnings with our program participants!