4th Grade Farm Trip Fundraiser

The Farm trip for 4th graders is back!

Each year, the 4th grade class from the Children’s Workshop School in East Village, NYC takes a multi-day trip to the Manhattan Country School Farm in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Accompanied by two CWS teachers, and led by the farm's extremely experienced and effective staff, the students learn an incredible amount during this intense time.

For most of the children, not only is it their first time away from home, but it’s also their first time on a farm, surrounded by animals, fields, and nature. They milk cows, feed pigs, gather freshly laid eggs and learn about their surroundings. All students participate in four classes:

Farm work, which can include everything from hauling wheelbarrows of hay to removing beetles from potato plants;

Cooking, since lunch and dinner for all of the students and teachers are prepared using primarily foods grown at the farm;

Textiles teaches them carding/spinning wool from the farm's sheep, how to weave using a manual loom, as well as the history of handmade textiles; and

Nature, fueled by walks through the farm's extensive wooded property, during which students study the interactions among plants, soil, water, insects, and other animals.

The farm also has a variety of seasonal activities that students may participate in such as: catching frogs at the frog pond, sledding and snow-shoeing, exploring

the woods and streams, participating in different phases of maple syrup processing, sheep shearing, getting to know the farm cats, drawing and writing outdoors, and playing sports!

It's an amazing, enriching experience, fostering both independence and a connection to nature and farm work that not many children at public schools in New York City get to experience.

In the past we had a generous standing donation for many years that covered the costs of this part of our curriculum. Sadly, that annual $10,000 gift has ended and left Children’s Workshop School looking for funding to keep our tradition. That’s why we’re here reaching out to family and friends, and their families and friends, to help us meet our goal.

We are all a family under one sky!

The Children’s Workshop School PTA is a 501(c)3 and all donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.