About Us
We are Heron and Josie Wakerobin, two farmers and teachers who have aspired to create a land-based home program for as long as they can remember. Together they live with their five dwarf goats - Harissa, Halvah, Hotdog, Horchata, and Baba Ghanoush - their big white dog Burl, a flock of ducks, and a flock of chickens. Together, Heron and Josie co-lead this program.
Heron graduated from UMass Amherst with a BS in Ecology and Experiential Education. They worked at the Hartsbrook School for five years - assisting in the Forest Kindergarten and leading their Early Childhood after-school programs. Previously they worked in a number of adventure-based outdoor education programs for all ages. They are a textile artist, rug maker, and doting goat parent.
Josie graduated with a BS in Environmental Science from Northeastern University, with a focus in geology. After moving to the Pioneer Valley, Josie worked as a lab technician at Mycoterra Farm, and later at Kitchen Garden Farm as the Harvest Manager. They are a Master in Ecological Design, having received their MS from The Conway School. Josie is a music teacher, pianist, writer, and gardener.
Heron is of Irish and English ancestry, and Josie is of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish ancestry. We acknowledge our respective histories of colonization and immigration, and the complicated relationship we foster as stewards of a land taken by force; this is extremely pertinent in the realm of outdoor education.
The two of us are intensely focused on making a learning space that is actively anti-white supremacist and promotes under represented voices. We are both on a never ending mission towards critical self analysis and an analysis of Euro-centric schooling. We hope that our program will help children to feel liberated, empathetic, and unified.
