What are the different Farm Explorer Programs?
Farm Explorer Truck: During a Farm Explorer truck visit students engage hands-on with topics in biology and agriculture by exploring fruits, vegetables and herbs growing on the truck. Each lesson includes a cooking demo, in which students harvest vegetables themselves to make a nutritious, seasonal snack, and a take-home recipe.
Farm Explorer Classroom: The Farm Explorer classroom brings experiential farm-based biology and environmental science lessons right into the classroom with hands-on plant and garden exploration activities, a cooking demo, taste test, and take-homes recipes based on seasonal food.
Extravaganza: This is an “open-house” style presentation of the Farm Explorer truck and blender bike, most suitable for school-wide events (300 students max).
Public Event: This is also an “open-house” style presentation of the Farm Explorer truck. Visitors are welcome to explore the growing fruits, vegetables and herbs, as well as enjoy a local snack, usually made in our smoothie bike.
What ages/grades does the Farm Explorer visit?
We are happy to offer Farm Explorer programming to many age groups and grades! The Farm Explorer is great for students in elementary and middle school, but our curriculum allows us to scale our lessons up and down to accommodate students as young as Pre-K and as old as Seniors in high school.
How long are the lessons?
Our Farm Explorer Truck lessons are 45-60 minutes, depending on the lesson and the school schedule. We usually ask for 5 minutes in between classes to clean up and/or reset for the next lesson.
For other events, such as Farm Explorer Extravaganza programs and public events, FE visits can be customized to fit the needs of the school or community group.
How many students do you educate during one Farm Explorer visit?
Farm Explorer Truck visits can accommodate up to 30 students per class/lesson, with a maximum of 4 classes per visit.
For other events such as Farm Explorer Extravaganza and public event programming, FE visits can be customized to fit the needs of the school or community group with a maximum of 300 students.
What is the geographical reach of the Farm Explorer?
Schools must be within 30 miles driving distance of our two main farm locations:
Urban Farm 1221 Fairmount Street Philadelphia 19123
Variety Club Hub 2950 Potshop Rd, Worcester, PA 19490
We have two Farm Explorer trucks we take on school visits:
Farm Explorer 1 visits schools within 30 mi driving distance of our Variety Club Hub.
Farm Explorer 2 visits schools within Philadelphia County or within 30 mi driving distance of our Urban Farm. Please see Question 6 and 7 for the difference between the two Farm Explorer trucks.
What are the dimensions of the truck?
The dimensions are 24 ft. long by 9’4” ft wide. We will use an additional 10 feet on the right side of the vehicle for our activities. Height clearance for an indoor space is 11 feet.
How much space do you need to maneuver the FE (i.e. into parking lots)?
It is about as wide as one lane of traffic, but needs the space of two lanes of traffic to turn 90 degrees. It is about 2 parallel parking spaces lengthwise, but cannot parallel park.
However, because each space is a little different, please contact us ahead of time with any parking concerns.
Are there awnings?
There are no awnings, but we may use tents for shade or for the rain.
How many Farm Explorer educators will be at our event?
Farm Explorer Truck: Two or more depending on the size of the group.
Farm Explorer Classroom: One or more depending on the size of the group.
Who are the Farm Explorer educators?
Jonathan Hamm and Jenny Dunker are our main Farm Explorer educators. They blend expertise in the fields of agriculture and science to create engaging and fun programs that highlight where food comes from and makes tasting healthy foods exciting and approachable. We also draw from our broader pool of staff educators at Greener Partners that have a wealth of experience and knowledge in agriculture, science, and youth education, including: Helen Nadel, Amy Johnson, Caitlin Brady, Tumi Ojutalayo, and Anaia Daigle.
How much set-up time is required?
We will arrive to park the FE Truck 30-45 minutes before our first class. It will take approximately 30 minutes to break down and clean up the Farm Explorer Truck after the last class. Please ensure that the block of time we schedule does not interfere with pick-up/drop-off/recess or any other time when there could be a lot of foot or car traffic in the FE space.
Is a representative from our school or organization required to be present during the entire program?
Yes. For school visits, we ask the classroom teacher to be an active participant during his/her class. For all events, we ask that a contact person give us their day-of contact information when they schedule their visit and be available when the FE arrives on-site.
What is your cancellation policy?
If you need to cancel for any reason, we ask that you give us 7 days notice.
Can the FE come out in any weather?
We hold Farm Explorer truck programming from the first week of April through mid-November. Classroom visits are held in the cooler months from late November through March.
We will need to cancel in the event of a thunderstorm. We can do programming in light rain, if it is not too cold and students are well dressed. Weather events are usually handled on a case-by-case basis, the day before or morning of the FE date. Unfortunately, we cannot offer to schedule rain-dates at this time.
How much does an FE visit cost?
Please see our FE Pricing structure here. For more information or questions about FE fees and payment, please contact Helen Nadel at Helen.nadel@greenerpartners.org
How can we pay and who do we make the payment out to?
You can pay by cash or check by the day of the visit.
Please make checks out to:
Greener Partners
PO Box 221, Fairview Village
Norristown, PA 19409
How do I book a class or event?
Email or call Jenny Dunker at jenny.dunker@greenerpartners.org or 610-584-6580, ext. 716 to discuss your event, or press the button below to get started!