Adapting the Institute Model
Quick Links: Institute Core Components
Whole School Teams • Farm to School Action Planning • Coaching • Skill Building • Peer Networking
Since 2015, Shelburne Farms Institute for Sustainable Schools has been supporting states in their efforts to adapt and develop their own Institutes, ensuring farm to school’s transformative benefits are reaching more kids and realized in more communities across the country. Adapting the Northeast Farm to School Institute model involves preserving the core components that make the Institute impactful and have staying power, while modifying how they are expressed to fit the local context. The Institute's core components represent a set of effective practices that are grounded in research and years of experience. They form the foundation for an immersive, relationship-based Institute experience that focuses on transformational outcomes for schools, educators, and communities, creating change that lasts.
The Institute’s core components include:
Whole-School Teams: Strong teams bring together people representing diverse identities and roles from across the school community to create lasting change. Typically four to seven members.
Farm to School Action Planning: During the Institute, each team develops a values-based, schoolwide farm to school action plan that integrates curriculum, local procurement, youth voice, and family and community connections.
Coaching: Teams are paired with an experienced coach from their state's farm to school or early childhood network who supports them in developing and implementing their action plans.
Skill Building: Teams engage in hands-on learning designed around school specific roles to build capacity and confidence to implement their action plans.
Peer Networking: Participants share innovations and challenges, join in dialogue, and share with others throughout the Institute experience.
Explore the Core Components
There is no single "right" way to implement the core components. In fact, there are many ways to combine and tailor them to meet the diverse needs of different schools, districts, and regions. This section explores each core component and describes how it's carried out by the Northeast Farm to School Institute, its connection to the professional learning philosophy, and some adaptations and variations that teams have creatively implemented to make the model work in their local contexts.
Our hope is that the guidance and examples provided here will inspire you to envision how you can leverage the Institute's core components to create a customized professional learning experience that aligns with your goals, resources, and community needs. By preserving the most essential elements while adapting aspects of design and delivery, you can develop an Institute that has the impact of the Northeast Farm to School Institute model while responding to your state or region’s unique opportunities and limitations.