News & Views is a
bi-monthly
e-publication of the Sterling College Admissions Office.
In this issue:
-Admissions Notes
-Salvation Farms: Sterling Alumni Work Towards Great Food Security in Our Local Community
-New Students Arrive from Distant
and Different Places
-Ritual Landscapes, Seabirds, Farms, and Fiddlers: The Scotland Trip 2006
-Faculty Spotlight: Perry Thomas
News and Views Staff:
Gwyn Harris (Editor), Jenna Ryan (Tech Support), and Matt Chaput '10 (Student Contributor).
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Applying Early Action
High school seniors may apply Early Action for fall 2006 and receive an early response to their application. Students who submit an Early Action application by December 15, 2006 will know of acceptance to Sterling College by January 15, 2007. The sooner a student is accepted for admission the sooner a student receives a financial aid award. Students accepted for admission under Early Action have until May 1, 2007 to submit their enrollment deposit.
Click here to apply now. |
Fall Open House: Saturday, November 11, 2006!
Take a tour, chat with students and faculty, and sample a delicious meal in Sterling's Dunbar Dining Hall. Staff, students, and faculty will be on hand to answer all your questions about our academic majors, experiential curriculum, global field studies, internships, admissions, and financial aid.
Click Here to Register now.
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Luis Arbolay '07
Hometown: Springfield, MA.
Internship Site: Salvation Farms and Wild Branch Valley Farm, Craftsbury, VT
Luis on his experience: "Salvation Farms, for me, was a wonderful experience. As an intern and volunteer this past summer, I learned the importance of food security and realized that there is so much food wasted, that we don’t even notice. I also interned for the Wild Branch Valley Farm, where I worked in the gardens and supervised chores. This summer my life was turned around—changing my lifestyle and feeling good about knowing I gave my part to those facing hunger. It was amazing seeing the smiles on people’s faces when I delivered several donated boxes full of greens and roots, and working together with a group of familiar faces to harvest and gather surplus that goes to those who need it instead of being wasted or forgotten. I was honored to be housed with the Director of Salvation Farms, Theresa Snow—a role model who is strong, spiritual, and God sent. The opportunity to work fighting hunger made me feel like a superhero; Theresa was like Mother Earth and I was her sidekick." |
Salvation Farms: Sterling Alumni Work Toward Greater Food Security in Our Local Community
by Jay Merrill '02, Admissions Counselor
For over two years, Theresa Snow ’02 and Jen O’Donnell ’05 have dedicated much time and hard work to create greater food security in our local community. As founding members of Salvation Farms—a non-profit with a mission to harvest excess farm produce, making it available to Vermonters in need—their goal is to provide healthy alternatives for people who don’t necessarily have a choice in what they eat. Salvation Farms identifies Vermonters in need as individuals who do not have easy access to food, and more importantly nutritious foods like organic produce.
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Salvation Farms is a cost free resource available to farmers and food sites, providing volunteer crews for salvaging farm surplus and arranging storage and distribution of fresh food donations. Donation recipients consist of local emergency food sites, educational and care giving institutions, retirement communities, non-profits, and the Vermont Foodbank. |
| Both Theresa and Jen studied sustainable agriculture at Sterling College. Theresa’s farming experiences include work at an organic farm in Hawaii, Pete’s Greens (a local large scale organic farmer specializing in salad mixes), High Mowing Seeds (an organic seed company), and the Wild Branch Valley Farm (a local family-run farm offering organic produce and meat). When asked what inspired her to establish Salvation Farms, Theresa reflected, “I realized that market farming was not my pace. I also felt that food is everybody’s right.” As Project Director of Salvation Farms, Theresa continues to work in agriculture in a way that really meets people’s basic needs. Jen’s interests focus more on nutrition. She also worked at Pete’s Greens, Sandiwood Farm (a CSA in Wolcott, VT), and spent a summer enrolled in Sterling’s Sustainable Agriculture Semester. Jen joined Theresa in support of Salvation Farms by developing her Senior Applied Research Project (SARP) around its mission. Jen’s SARP, entitled Salvation Farms: A Community Gleaning Project Based in Craftsbury, Vermont, bridged the gap between the theory of her academic studies and its practical application in the real world. “I wanted to complete a project in the agricultural field and I also wanted more than just a research project.” Jen was searching for a SARP with some real purpose to her neighbors’ day-to-day lives. As current Assistant Director of Salvation Farms, Jen recalls thinking about her future when deciding on the topic of her SARP, “I was seeking a project that might offer an employment opportunity after graduation and here I am.” Together Jen and Theresa submitted a proposal to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont and asked if NOFA-VT would consider becoming a fiscal sponsor and advisor of the project. NOFA-VT agreed and Salvation Farms was officially born. (click here to read more) |
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New Students Arrive From Distant and Different Places
By Matt Chaput ’10
As the academic year begins at Sterling College there is a barrage of new names and faces to get to know. Almost half of the new students on campus this fall hail from states outside of New England. Some traveled a great distance to be a part of Sterling College, while others left busy urban cities or suburban areas to join us in our rural community.
Roughly 3,200 miles from home, Ricky Chavez arrived from Tucson, Arizona. “I was looking for an environmental college and a school that didn’t emphasize its athletic department.”
Ricky’s personal quest to visit every state in the country before turning 30 was his initial draw to Vermont. It’s the appeal of the surroundings that enticed him to stay. “There’s something about life here in Vermont. The landscape—the houses, hills, trees—it reminds me of the European countryside in a way.”
Ricky transferred to Sterling College with an Associate’s Degree in Business Management from Pima Community College. He plans to self-design a major in International Agriculture and Business.
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An Oregonian, Mike Street comes to us from Condon, a tiny town in Eastern Oregon, 2,987 miles away from Craftsbury. Mike first heard about Sterling College from his friend Tyler Self ’07 while working on a trail crew in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Mike was drawn to our curriculum because of its emphasis on experiential learning. He’s interested is learning about sustainable practices in a hands-on manner. “As I continue my education, my goal is to spend a lot of time outside of an actual classroom.”
Some courses at Sterling allow Mike to work towards this goal, as he explains, “For example, in my Exploring Alternative Agriculture course this semester we travel to a different farm each week and spend four hours learning about their operation. Then, we spend an hour after the visit in discussion and reflection. I find this to be the ideal learning situation.” |
A Midwesterner, Megan Connolly comes to us from Palos Park, Illinois, approximately 979 miles from Craftsbury Common. Megan first discovered Vermont in the summer of 2005 when she worked for the Student Conservation Association at Green Mountain Conservation Camp at Buck Lake in Woodbury, Vermont.
While working at the camp she got involved with the nearby Hardwick community through volunteer work at the Buffalo Mountain Co-op. “One of the reasons I decided to attend Sterling was because of the experience I had working with local people at the co-op. I fell in love with the community here and the passion behind what they are doing at the co-op—promoting local, wholesome food and community involvement.”
Megan spent the summer of 2006 completing the Sustainable Agriculture Semester on the Sterling Farm. For Megan it was gratifying to be a part of the cyclical nature of work on the farm. “It was pretty amazing to walk into the kitchen during the first week of school and see all the vegetables—beets, carrots, potatoes—spread out, waiting to be prepared for a meal. Those vegetables hold a lot of meaning to me— I sowed them from seed in the spring.” (click here to read more) |
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| Ritual Landscapes, Seabirds, Farms and Fiddlers: The Scotland Trip, 2006
by Steve Young, Northern Studies Faculty
Ritual Landscapes are the result of a conscious juxtaposition of what architects call the ‘built environment’ with the natural landscape in such a way that a symbolic meaning emerges. A New England village common with a white-spired church can be an example, as can be the complex of the pyramids in Egypt. Ancient ritual landscapes that have survived physically, but whose symbolism is lost in time, are especially intriguing—witness the endless cultic nonsense that envelops Stonehenge.
(click here to read more) |
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Faculty Profile: Perry Thomas
B.A., Biology, Dartmouth College, 1983; M.A., Teaching Biology, Northern Arizona University, 1990; Ph.D., Biology, Northern Arizona University, 1995.
If you spend time at Sterling College you will notice that a few professors who work here wear many hats—and I’m not referring to winter headwear. If you delve into the specifics of a professor’s title, it might read something like this: Part-time Sustainable Agriculture Professor, part-time Outdoor Education and Leadership Professor, Director of Mountain Cultures Semester, and Resident Llama Expert. The roles these multitasking men and women juggle seem to be limited only by their talents and their time.
Perry Thomas is a fine example of one of these dexterous academics. She balances the duties of a college dean and professor every day. Her characteristically calm visage gives little evidence of the multitude of tasks she is responsible for.
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She always speaks in a soft, thoughtful way, and she never rushes through her words. She never hurries from place to place, and she always seems to have time to talk to students, advisees, and faculty. As I spoke with her about the various courses, curricula, and grants she is working on for the upcoming academic year, I was even more impressed with her tranquil demeanor. (click here to read more)
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