Community Ecology Institute
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FAQs

10/3/2022

 
How do we visit Freetown Farm?
Freetown Farm is a small, private, heavily programmed property. Therefore, all visits are by appointment, event, program, etc. only. If you would like to schedule a tour, we would love to show you the property and share our work with you.  We have three standard times that are available for tours: Wednesdays between 3pm and just before sunset; Thursdays between 10 and 1; and the second Saturday (and sometimes fourth) Saturday of each month between 11 and 2. To schedule a tour, please contact schedule@cei.earth and expect to need to schedule at least two weeks in advance. 

Can we volunteer?
Yes, volunteers are essential to our work! We have two pathways for volunteerism at Freetown Farm:
​*individuals, families, or groups that would like to become regular volunteers
*one-time (at least initially, most folks come back) group days of service or scout projects
For those that would like to become regular volunteers, we offer two new volunteer orientation sessions each month, on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. After orientation, people can schedule to come out Tuesday through Saturday 10-3 and Wednesdays until sunset. Group volunteer days can be scheduled at least two to three weeks in advance and are typically set for Fridays or Saturdays. More volunteer information can be found at Get Involved - Community Ecology Institute and/or by emailing volunteer@cei.earth.
 
How can I donate to support your work?
Thank you, our work depends on the support of people who value its benefits! You can make your donation online on this main page Donate - Community Ecology Institute or make a check to The Community Ecology Institute and mail it to 8000 Harriet Tubman Lane, Columbia, MD 21044.
 
Can my group come out for a field trip?
Yes. We offer field trips primarily on Fridays. Our parking at Freetown Farm is limited to groups of no more than 15 cars or one bus. The details for field trips are planned on a case-by-case basis depending on the number and age of people involved and the extent to which the request requires additional preparation by our staff. Please email schedule@cei.earth to request a field trip and expect to need to schedule at least two to three weeks in advance. 

Do you all do speaking engagements?
Yes. Members of CEI board and staff are able to do speaking engagements on a variety of topics at the many intersections of education, environment, equity and health. We are able to speak within Howard County in person and virtually outside of our hometown. Details for speaking engagements are planned on a case-by-case basis. Please email schedule@cei.earth to request a speaker and expect to need to schedule at least three weeks in advance. 

Anti-Racist & social justice resources

9/14/2022

 
In recognition of the acute nature of the racial injustices occurring in our country, CEI joins the call for a more equitable, inclusive, peaceful and just future that reaffirms dignity and ensures safety for everyone. The following resources facilitate listening, learning, communication, and effective action towards racial justice. 
On Being Anti-Racist
  • First Listen, Then Learn: Anti-Racism Resources for White People
  • Anti-Racism Resources Google Doc 
​On Teaching and Talking To Kids about Race
  • Your Kids Aren't Too Young to Talk about Race: Resource Roundup
  • 10 Tips For Teaching and Talking to Kids about Race 
On Supporting Co-workers from Underrepresented Groups
  • 5 Things Allies Can Do To Sponsor Coworkers From Underrepresented Groups 
  • It's Time to Stop Talking About Diversity and Start Talking about Race at Work 
​On what COVID-19 is Teaching Us About Racism and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • COVID-19 Puts Structural Racism on Full Display 
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: What the Coronavirus Teaches and How We Must Respond 
On Environmental Racism and Justice and Climate Change
  • Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism
  • Black Environmentalists Talk about Climate and Anti-Racism ​
  • Public Health Resources for Understanding Environmental Racism
OUR COMMITMENT

OUR PHILOSOPHY

9/1/2022

 
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farm Preservation & Agricultural Knowledge

There is little agricultural land left in eastern Howard County, especially in Columbia. Preserving this six-acre organic farm is a worthwhile endeavor in its own right! Our commitment is:
  • Offering space for community non-profit organizations to have community gardens for the populations they serve
  • Growing produce to be donated to the food bank and to be sold through Community Supported Agriculture
  • Offering courses for students, adults, and professional groups related to organic food production and best practices in small-scale sustainable agriculture

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Environmental Sustainability & Climate action

Howard County is the first county in the nation to formally accept the United States Climate Alliance's Natural and Working Lands Challenge, which calls on jurisdictions to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration. The Community Ecology Center will be uniquely positioned to help area residents explore how they can be part of the solution.

We demonstrate and offer educational programming related to:
  • Conservation landscapes such as rain gardens, pollinator gardens, and food forests
  • Reducing waste through "refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle" approaches, including composting and a "repair café"
  • Energy and water efficiency, including rain barrels, energy efficient construction, renewable energy
  • Sequestering carbon in the soil and through planting of native trees

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Roots & Wings
Columbia Families in Nature

Nature-Based Experiential Education 

The Community Ecology Institute's mission centers around helping people develop strong connections with the natural environment because research shows how important such experiences are for people's well-being, the generation of knowledge that makes a difference, and the cultivation of a life-long environmental ethic. Our award-winning Columbia Families in Nature program will take root on the farm as will our Roots & Wings Learning Community. We will also develop robust and meaningful programming for local public school students with the ultimate goal to have every student in the county visit the farm every year.

Recommended Reading

9/1/2022

 
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Further your knowledge with these articles and scholarly publications! 

Nature Connection, Sense of Place & and Pro-Environmental Behavior:

  • Chawla, L. (2007). Childhood experiences associated with care for the natural world. Children, Youth and Environments, 17(4), 144-170.
  • Chawla, L. (2009). Growing up green: Becoming an agent of care for the natural world. Journal of Developmental Processes, 4(1), 6-23.
  • Chawla, L., & Cushing, D. (2007). Education for strategic environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 13, 437-452.
  • Chawla, L. &  Derr, V. (2012). The Development of Conservation Behaviors in Childhood and Youth. S. Clayton (Ed.), Handbook on Environmental and Conservation Psychology. Oxford University Press.
  • Cornell, J. (1999). Sharing Nature with Children II. Dawn Publications.
  • Cresswell, T. (2009). Place. In Thrift, N., Kitchen, R., (eds) International Encyclopedia of Human Geography.
  • D'Amore, C. (2015). “Thriving Through Nature: Fostering Children’s Executive Function Skills”, leadership series paper with the Children & Nature Network.
    D'Amore, C. (2015). “Family nature clubs: Creating the conditions for social and environmental connection and care”. Doctoral dissertation, retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. 
  • D'Amore, C. (2016). “Family Nature Clubs: An Intergenerational Opportunity to Connection with and Care for Nature” in the Journal of Families, Relationships and Societies, Vol 5. No. 3.
  • D'Amore, C. (in press). “Women’s Leadership of Family Nature Clubs: Furthering the Movement to Reconnect People with Nature” in the Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning.
  • D'Amore, C. & Chawla, J. (in press). ​“Many Children in the Woods: Applying Principles of Community Based Social Marketing to a Family Nature Club” in Ecopsychology.
  • D'Amore, C. & Chawla, J. (in press). “Significant Life Experiences that Connect Children with Nature: A Research Review and Applications to a Family Nature Club” in the International Research Handbook on ChildhoodNature: Assemblages of Childhood and Nature Research.
  • D'Amore, C. & Mitten, D. (2017). “The Relationship of Women’s Body Image and Experience in Nature” in Women and Nature? Beyond Dualism in Gender, Body, and Environment, Routledge.
  • ​Dunlap, J. & Kellert, S. (2012). Companions in Wonder: Children and Adults Exploring Nature Together.  MIT Press.
  • Gayton (1996). Landscapes of the Interior: Re-explorations of Nature and the Human Spirit. New Society Publishers
  • Gruenewald, D.A. & Smith, G.A. (Eds.). (2010). Place-based education in the global age.       
  • Harwell, K. & Reynold, J. (2006). Exploring a sense of place: How to create your own local program for reconnecting with nature.  
  • Hubbard, P., Kitchen, R., and Valentine, G. eds. (2004). Key Thinkers on Space and Place. Sage. 
  • Long, J. (2010). Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas. University of Texas Press. 
  • Louv, R. (2008). Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.  Algonquin Books.
  • Louv, R. (2012). The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books.
  • ​Kudryavtsev A., Stedman R.C., and Krasny M.E. (2012). Sense of place in environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 18(2), 229-250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.609615
  • Measham, T. (2007). Primal Landscapes: insights for education from empirical research on ways of learning about environments, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 16 (4) pp. 339–350
  • Prewitt Diaz, J. and Dayal, A. (2008). Sense of Place: A Model for Community Based Psychosocial Support programs.  Australasian Journal  of Disaster and Trauma Studies.  
  • ​Russ A., Peters S.J., Krasny M.E., and Stedman R.C. (2015). Development of ecological place meaning in New York City. Journal of Environmental Education 46(2), 1-20. doi:10.1080/00958964.2014.999743
  • Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms and communities.
  • ​Sperling, J. (2016). Unplugged: 15 Steps to Disconnect from Technology and Reconnect with Nature, Yourself, Friends, and Family. 
  • Tuan, Y. (1990). Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values. New York: Columbia    University Press. 
  • Van Noy, R. (2008). ​A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature Through the Seasons. University of Georgia Press.
  • ​Young, J. (2010). ​​Coyotes Guide to Connecting with Nature.  Owlink Media.​​
  • ​Zylstra, M., Knight, A., Esler, K., & Le Grange, L. (2014). Connectedness as a core conservation concern: An interdisciplinary review of theory and a call for practice. Springer Science Reviews. ​

Civic Ecology

  • Krasny, M.E. and K.G. Tidball (2009) Community gardens as contexts for science, stewardship, and advocacy learning: the Garden Mosaics example. Invited Submission to: Special Issue on community gardens and pollination. Cities and the Environment 2(1):8. http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol2/iss1/8/
  • Krasny, M.E. and K.G. Tidball. (2012). Civic Ecology: A pathway for Earth Stewardship in cities. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 10(5): 267-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/110230
  • Krasny, M.E., Russ, A., Tidball, K.G., and Elmqvist T. (2013). Civic ecology practices: Participatory approaches to generating and measuring ecosystem services in cities. Ecosystem Services. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.11.002   Krasny et al 2013b
  • Krasny, ME, SR Crestol, KG Tidball, and RC Stedman. (2014). New York City’s oyster gardeners: Memories and meanings as motivations of volunteer environmental stewards. Landscape and Urban Planning. 16-25 
  • Krasny, ME and KG Tidball. 2015. Civic Ecology: Adaptation and Transformation from the Ground Up. MIT Press. http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/civic-ecology 
  • Krasny, ME. (2015). Book Review (invited): Dana R. Fisher, Erika S. Svendsen, James Connolly. Urban Environmental Stewardship and Civic Engagement. How planting trees strengthens the roots of democracy. Human Ecology. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-015-9787-4?
  • Krasny, ME. P Silva, C W. Barr, Z Golshani, E Lee, R Ligas, E Mosher, and A Reynosa. (2015). Civic ecology practices: insights from practice theory. Ecology and Society. 20 (2): 12. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss2/art12/
  • ​Krasny, ME and K Snyder, eds. 2016. Civic Ecology: Stories about Love of Life, Love of Place. Civic Ecology Lab. Krasny_Snyder_MOOC_Stories_2016
  • Lee, E and ME Krasny. (2015). The role of social learning for social-ecological systems in Korean village groves restoration. Ecology and Society 20 (1): 42. 
  • Schusler, T.M. and M.E. Krasny. (2010). Environmental Action as Context for Youth Development. Journal of Environmental Education 41(4): 208-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00958960903479803
  • Schusler, TM and ME Krasny. 2014. Science and Democracy in Youth Environmental Action-Learning “Good” Thinking, In: MP Mueller and DJ Tippins, eds. EcoJustice, Citizen Science and Youth Activism: Situated Tensions for Science Education. Springer.
  • Shava, S., M.E. Krasny, K.G. Tidball, and C. Zazu (2010). Agricultural knowledge in urban and resettled communities: applications to social-ecological resilience and environmental education. Special Issue of Environmental Education Research 15(5-6): 575-589. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2010.505436
  • Smith, JG, B DuBois, and ME Krasny. (2015). Framing for Resilience through Social Learning: Impacts of Environmental Stewardship on Youth in Post-disturbance Communities. Sustainability Science. Online. 1-13. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-015-0348-y
  • Tidball, KG and ME Krasny. 2007. From risk to resilience: What role for community greening and civic ecology in cities? In: Wals, A. (ed). Social Learning Towards a more Sustainable World. Wagengingen Academic Press. pp 149-164. 2007-Tidball
  • Tidball, K.G. and M.E. Krasny (2010). Urban environmental education from a social-ecological perspective: conceptual framework for civic ecology education. Cities and the environment, 
  • Tidball, K. G. (2012). Urgent biophilia: human-nature interactions and biological attractions in disaster resilience. Ecology and Society 17(2): 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04596-170205

Climate Change

  • DuBois, B and ME Krasny. (2016). Educating with resilience in mind: Environmental education in post-Sandy New York City. Journal of Environmental Education. 
  • ​Krasny, ME and B DuBois. (2016). Climate Adaptation Education: Embracing Reality or Abandoning Environmental Values? Environmental Education Research. 
  • Tidball, K.G., M.E. Krasny, E. Svendsen, L. Campbell, and K. Helphand (2010). Stewardship, learning, and memory in disaster resilience. Special Issue of Environmental Education Research 15(5-6): 591-609. 
  • ​Tidball, K. (2010). Greening in the Red Zone: Green Space and Disaster Resistance, Recovery and Resilience. Anthropology News, Commentary, Volume 51, Issue 7. 2010-Tidball-RedZone

Walkable watershed project

8/31/2022

 
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Download the Freetown Walkable Watershed Report
A Walkable Watershed integrates the flow of water and people into a cohesive strategy to improve the overall health of a community and the surrounding watershed. The concept is based on the idea that high-quality water goes hand-in-hand with a high quality of life, supporting access to the outdoors, enhanced community infrastructure and services, and stronger health outcomes.
A Walkable Watershed process: 
  • provides an integrated planning approach to improve water quality and community health
  • engages a broad range of stakeholders
  • links environmental and social equity goals
  • generates innovative, community-based solutions grounded in technical analysis
  • creates multiple benefits, such as walkability, outdoor learning, revitalization, community stewardship and improved water quality 
  • attracts and leverages multiple funding sources
  • provides a replicable process for any watershed

project information 

CEI's Freetown Farm is located less than a mile from the Middle Patuxent River within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Currently stormwater from neighboring Atholton High School is directed onto the farm via a culvert and underground pipe and the previous farm owner piped this water to the edge of the property, resulting in flooding and erosion for residential neighbors. Stormwater runoff from the school also flows across the road and a bus yard and on to the farm causing flooding for the farm as well as surrounding properties. CEI and Atholton High School are in a unique position to support the health of the Middle Patuxent watershed through treatment of a significant volume of stormwater runoff as well as model how homeowners and commercial properties can address stormwater issues in a socio-ecologically beneficial manner.

From 2019 to 2021 CEI implemented a series of three Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) grants called “Water F.O.R.C.E.” to address the stormwater from the high school that flows on to our farm. We completed an ecological master plan of the property and developed a plan to implement best management practices in the northwest field of the farm that will slow the stormwater down, spread it out, and allow it to soak into the ground. A 
second series of CBT grants through the Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns is focused on mitigating the runoff from the high school by developing a green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) concept plan for the high school using a selection of integrated best management practices (BMPs). These projects will begin the “walkable watershed” by developing connected projects between the school and CEI’s farm property to provide students access to outdoor environmental education opportunities. Once implemented, these two connected projects will provide a highly visible demonstration of BMPs such as bioretention areas, infiltration trenches and dry wells, berms and swales, rain gardens, urban tree canopies, conservation landscapes, and rainwater harvesting. In addition to the demonstration value of the project, the installation of the BMPs will achieve reductions in nutrient and sediment loads in Middle Patuxent Watershed.

The work at Freetown Farm and Atholton High School will be the beginning of a larger community Walkable Watershed initiative 
supported by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that will address stormwater management issues while simultaneously addressing community needs and neighborhood quality of life goals – such as improved neighborhood connectivity and better access to vibrant outdoor spaces – and integrating different assets within the community including CEI’s environmental learning center, Atholton High School, Robinson Nature Center, and the cultural heritage of Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad route. CEI is leading this initiative because we are connected and committed to the community and the different stakeholders associated with this work while also being nimble enough to take a leadership role in encouraging and pursuing innovations.  The Freetown Walkable Watershed Initiative report is available here.


Our partners

The University of Maryland Extension and the Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy are key partners through all the phases of the walkable watershed initiative. CEI worked with Biohabitats to develop the design to address the stormwater flowing onto Freetown Farm. We are working with Skeo Solutions on the walkable watershed design plans for Atholton High and the surrounding Hickory Ridge community. They completed their first Walkable Watershed pilot in early 2012 in a community in Richmond, Virginia. They have since led Walkable Watershed projects benefiting communities with environmental justice concerns in more than seven locations across the country. We worked with Howard EcoWorks and Triangle Contracting on the BMP installation elements at Freetown Farm and are bringing this team back for the installation of BMPs at Atholton High School, new work which is being overseen by Coastal Resources Inc. 
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CFIN Membership & FAQs

8/30/2022

 
Our seasonal family memberships allow you to enjoy weekly events in community with other families, providing a great opportunity to build familiarity and friendship with other local nature lovers. Our memberships follow the seasons and include ten nature excursions based in the  Howard County area and beyond ! 
​

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As seasonal CFIN members, your family will enjoy engaging events in community with other families. Activities include hiking, Junior Naturalist activities, creative fun, land stewardship and more. 

JOIN THE CFIN MAILING LIST
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

Registration 

Our Seasonal Memberships includes 10 unique outdoor events for your entire family!
Cost: $60 per family
A 50% discount for families in need can be selected during registration. Fully-sponsored membership is also available for families who need additional financial assistance. Please email cfin@cei.earth if you would like to explore the fully-sponsored option.

Our Winter program is full! Join the CFIN Mailing List to be sure to get registration alerts for future memberships and free events!


CFIN FAQs

With respect to Covid- 19 and masking procedures; families are not required to wear masks at CFIN activities. Masks are welcomed and participants are encouraged to make the masking decision that feels best for themselves and their family. 

About CFIN

8/30/2022

 

You're Invited to Come Outside and Play! 

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​Who:  Children and their adults.
What:  Free-play, family hikes, educational experiences, volunteer activities. When you join us, prepare to have fun, make friends, and earn your bath!
Where: We have excursions in natural areas in and around Howard County, Maryland.
​When: Four Sunday afternoons per month.
See our 
Membership page for more details.
​

​Why: People who spend frequent time outdoors experience enhanced use of the senses, fewer attention difficulties and decreased rates of physical and emotional illness and obesity. Spending frequent time outdoors is also the best way to develop a connection to nature, which is essential for environmental stewardship.
Having close relationships with important adults also gives children a sense of well-being and confidence that allows them to connect with the world around them.  Learn more about of benefits of CFIN here! 
​​CFIN is committed to giving families the opportunity to connect with nature, each other, and their community. 
​

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Top 20 Benefits of CFIN
CFIN New Leader Guidebook

Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice

8/30/2022

 
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OUR COMMITMENT

Just as biodiversity strengthens natural systems, the diversity of human experience strengthens our efforts to create socially and ecologically healthy communities. 
 
CEI is committed to honoring diversity, prioritizing inclusion, and working towards equity in all we do. We are dedicated to creating an environment free from any kind of discrimination including race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, national or ethnic origin, and veteran status. 
 
​Our land was part of the Underground Railroad and is now within Columbia, Maryland—a place explicitly founded by James Rouse to be “a garden for growing people where anyone—whatever their race, wealth or religious beliefs—could reach their full potential.” 
 
​We continuously work to make this vision a reality and to help other communities do the same. CEI joins the call for a more equitable, inclusive, peaceful, and just future that reaffirms dignity and ensures safety for all.
RESOURCES

The History of Freetown Farm

8/28/2022

 
 As the new stewards of this historic, 6.4-acre farm on Harriet Tubman Lane in Howard County, Maryland, CEI reached out to those who helped us purchase and protect this land for their thoughts about what to rename it. CEI is committed to understanding and sharing the social and ecological history of this land. 

THE NAME OF THE FARM

The property has been known as Shaw Farm for almost 40 years, named for its prior owner, Mr. David Shaw. We received close to 100 different name suggestions! To honor the important history of this land as well as the ways in which our urban farm will support the journey to a "carbon-free" future, we have, through an iterative process, chosen the name FREETOWN FARM. Our choice of the name Freetown Farm recognizes the important history of the land on which the Community Ecology Institute is putting down roots. We are working to develop programming that tells the story of this land and its historic community.

INDIGENOUS LAND HISTORY

To begin, we acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe as well as the Susquehannock, Algonquian, Lenape, Nanticoke, Powhatan, and Patuxent. In 1634, colonists came to the area via the Ark and Dove ships, and colonization of tribal lands was started by Leonard Calvert, Maryland’s first colonial governor. Conflict began to rise as the colonists continued to encroach on tribal lands, culminating in the first treaty in 1666 to establish the Piscataway reservation. This was followed by subsequent treaties, all of which would be broken in the coming years, resulting in the loss of native homelands. 

Records show that the plantations of this area used the labor of enslaved people as early as 1690, often for the growing and harvesting of tobacco. Once iron ore was discovered, slave labor was used in mining to support railroads. 
​
When asked what role enslaved people played in developing Howard County, Wylene Burch, the founding director of the Howard County Center of African American Culture explained: ​
They built it. All of these buildings built in the 1700s, they must have used the slave trade to build them. Those people really struggled and worked and developed this area.[i]

​After more than 150 years of slavery in Howard County, in 1845 local landowner Nicolas Worthington freed seventeen people he had enslaved and gave them 150 acres of land—an area that became known as Freetown.  According to the 1860 Census, more than one in five Howard County residents was an enslaved person; another 10 percent were free black people—double the proportion of the rest of the state. Local historians believe that Freetown and the surrounding community of Simpsonville served as an important stopover point in the Underground Railroad.  Ms. Burch noted research that showed the Underground Railroad thrived in the county because it was in “the tight place” as slaves moved north through Maryland via different waterways, such as the Middle Patuxent and Patapsco rivers.[ii]

Our farm on Harriet Tubman Lane sits at the intersection of three locations on the Freetown-Simpsonville Legacy Trail known to have been part of the Underground Railroad:[iii]
  • Middle Patuxent River - At the bottom of the hill, on the south side of Rt. 32 and Cedar Lane in “Old Freetown,” winds the Middle Patuxent River. Near the bank of this river there is a cave-like area where people hid from slave raiders on their journey north.
  • Freetown Road - Old “Freetown” was originally bound by Cedar Lane down 216 and continued up around Howard Community College and over to Owen Brown. Today all that is left of the original tract is Freetown Road, the Harriet Tubman portion of Guilford Road, and the Locust United Methodist Church and Cemetery.
  • Locust Cemetery - Oral History says that Harriet Tubman and other formerly enslaved people who fled plantations in search of freedom hid and rested at the gravesites. The Cemetery is located at the corner of Harriet Tubman Lane and Freetown Road.

The farm is located across the street from the Harriet Tubman School, a segregated high school for African American students established in 1948. Howard County Schools did not honor the 1954 Supreme Court Ruling mandating racial integration of schools until 1965. At that time, the Harriet Tubman School was closed after a new, integrated school, Atholton High School, was built next door. The Harriet Tubman School is now being renovated to become a historic, educational, and cultural center for the community. We are excited to pursue programming partnerships with the Harriet Tubman School once their facilities are complete. As that work continues, the Howard County Branch of the NAACP is stewarding a garden plot on the farm that will both help to tell the story of the African American history on this land and address local food justice issues.
 
Freetown Farm is located in Columbia, Maryland—a unique, planned community founded in 1967 by James Rouse, whose commitment to racial integration and openness set an example for the nation. From its inception, Columbia championed integration—across race, class, and faith. The city’s iconic “People Tree” statue embodies this vision of our inter-connectedness.  Rouse described Columbia as “a garden for growing people.”[iv]  At Freetown Farm we aim to honor the rich legacies in our soil.

Sources

Please click the "Read More" button to view our sources. 

Read More

Roots & wings learning community

8/21/2022

 
Welcome! 
The mission of the Roots & Wings Learning Community is to offer supplemental, educational programming to home-schooled children, in order to nurture a deep connection to self & others through transformative arts integration, social responsibility and nature-rich activities. 

Below is an example of what the program schedule will look like next year (please note it is subject to slight changes):
TIME
5-7 BUDS (M-TH)
8-10 SPROUTS (M-TH)
9:30 - 10 am
Social Emotional Learning
Social Emotional Learning
10 - 11 am
Movement or Literacy Exploration
Farm & Garden
11 am - 12 pm 
Fine Art or Handcrafting
Movement or Literacy Exploration
12 - 1 pm 
LUNCH / FREE PLAY
LUNCH / FREE PLAY
1 - 2 pm 
Farm & Garden
Fine Art or Handcrafting
2 - 3 pm
Passion Projects
Passion Projects
3 - 3:30 pm
Free Choice Explorations
Free Choice Exploration
Meet the Teachers
Information about class sections: 
  • Farm and Garden: this section will include time spent planting, harvesting and caring for the youth garden as well as animal husbandry. One of the goals of our program is to incorporate animal and garden care into every child's experience.
  • Literacy Exploration: building literacy is in important part of our educational journey. This section will be offered on T and W and will combine story time, group writing, play creation, poetry, word games, with time spent in the literacy garden. Children will plan and plant themed root pouches to highlight themes/characters/genres of children's literature that they choose as a group.  
  • Art and Handcrafting: we celebrate art in all of its forms, and we are so grateful to be able to offer meaningful art projects every day to the children in our programs. Children will be exposed to various art mediums, techniques and difficulty levels. They will explore fine arts (art using various tools and mediums) and handcrafting (useful art made with the hands) throughout their time in our program. 
  • Movement: this section will be offered on M and TH and will provide the children with an opportunity to move their bodies, ground their energy and express themselves in new and healthy ways. We feel strongly that movement is an important communication asset and that it offers endless benefits to connect mind, body and spirit. 
  • Passion Projects: this mixed age group section will allow the kids to work on various themed projects appropriate to the semester's learning goals and will give them a chance to work with and meet kids in other age groups.
  • Free Choice Explorations: this mixed age group section will offer children some independent control over their learning experience. They will be able to choose where they want to be for a portion of the afternoon doing various activities like: jump rope, yoga, Spanish, book clubs/story time, stem challenges, extra art/crafting projects, music, nature explorations and more. 

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    The Community Ecology Institute co-authors the material on this blog with the support of several team members.

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CEI humbly acknowledges the Indigenous people who were wrongfully removed from their ancestral lands where we live and work today. We offer our deepest respect to the Piscataway Conoy Tribe and all other tribes Indigenous to the central Maryland region where our organization is based. To learn more about the Indigenous people where you live, visit Native-Land.ca. ​

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