“Nurtured In Nature,” An Immersive Four Season Outdoor After-School Program Returns To Pitney Meadows, Deepening Children’s Connection To Nature, Community, And Themselves
This fall, continuing into Spring 2027, the living classroom at Pitney Meadows Community Farm is getting a little bigger… and a lot more connected. For the third year, “Nurtured in Nature” returns with an expanded age range, welcoming students from kindergarten through sixth grade and beyond into an immersive after-school experience designed to help young people connect with the outdoors, with one another, and with themselves.
Fall 2026 Sessions: Wednesdays, 4:30pm–5:30pm
Session One: September 23rd, September 30th, October 7th, October 14th
Session Two: October 28th, November 4th, November 11th, November 18th
Spring 2027 Sessions: Wednesdays, 4:30pm–5:30pm
Session One: March 3rd, March 10th, March 17th, and March 24th
Session Two: April 7th, April 14th, April 21st, and April 28th
What began as a nature-based pilot program connecting elementary-aged children to seasonal science, mindfulness, and exploration has continued to grow alongside the children and families who have made it part of their lives. “Nurtured in Nature” is building on that strong foundation with new opportunities for older students to go deeper… while preserving the playful, sensory-rich experiences that have become the heart of the program.
At its core, “Nurtured in Nature” is about connection: helping children slow down enough to notice the world around them, discover their own curiosity and capabilities, and experience what happens when learning, friendship, and nature come together.
“Children are naturally curious, and nature gives them an incredible place to follow that curiosity,” said Leah Ferrone, “Nurtured in Nature” co-founder and educator. “When we give children time and space to explore, play, wonder, and simply be outside together, something really special happens. They begin to connect the dots… between what they’re noticing in nature, what they’re experiencing within themselves, and how they relate to the people around them.”
Each four-week session follows the rhythms of the season, using Pitney Meadows as a living classroom. Students might investigate a natural phenomenon, observe changes in the landscape, explore seasonal science, engage their senses, practice mindfulness, or simply have the freedom to discover something unexpected.
The evolution reflects what the “Nurtured in Nature” team has learned through its first two years: children are not simply learning about nature here… they are developing a relationship with it.
“We’ve watched this program grow in ways that are really meaningful,” said Brooke McConnell, Executive Director of Pitney Meadows Community Farm. “Children are learning about nature, but they’re also learning how to be in a community, how to pay attention, how to trust their own curiosity, and how to feel at home in a place. That is the kind of learning that stays with you. We’re incredibly proud of what Leah and Andrew have built, and excited to see where it goes next.”
Families have seen that connection firsthand. Feedback from past participants describes children becoming excited to participate, including children who are typically shy, while parents have valued having a meaningful reason to return to the farm together.
For Andrew Ferrone, “Nurtured in Nature” co-founder and educator, the program’s continued growth reflects what can happen when children are given consistent opportunities to experience, and then understand, nature firsthand.
“Nature gives us so many invitations to learn,” said Ferrone. “It asks us to slow down, to observe, to adapt, to be curious. We want children to experience that not as another lesson they have to complete, but as something they genuinely enjoy. If they leave here feeling more connected… to the land, to each other, and to themselves… then we’ve accomplished something pretty powerful.”
That philosophy is at the heart of the “Nurtured in Nature’s” next chapter. Younger students (Continued Core Foundation, K-3rd grade) will continue building foundational connections through sensory exploration, play, seasonal science, and mindfulness. Older students (Emerging Nature Leaders, 4th-6th grade and up) have the opportunity to take those skills further through a four-week project-based exploration, developing observation, collaboration, creative problem-solving, and leadership skills.
“Nurtured in Nature” began by inviting children outside and is becoming something more: a place where young people can learn to notice, wonder, connect, and grow… together. A place to build a relationship with the land. A place to build a relationship with one another. A place to build a relationship with themselves. And at Pitney Meadows, that learning happens one season at a time.
Nurtured in Nature’s Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 sessions, open to K–6+ students, will take place at Pitney Meadows Community Farm. Registration is now open, with limited enrollment available. Thanks to the generous support of Deborah and Dexter Senft, registration is offered at an accessible cost, with scholarships also available.
Fall 2026 Sessions: Wednesdays, 4:30pm–5:30pm
Session One: September 23rd, September 30th, October 7th, October 14th
Session Two: October 28th, November 4th, November 11th, November 18th
Spring 2027 Sessions: Wednesdays, 4:30pm–5:30pm
Session One: March 3rd, March 10th, March 17th, and March 24th
Session Two: April 7th, April 14th, April 21st, and April 28th
Meet Our Educators:
Andrew Ferrone: Andrew is the Elementary Principal at Argyle Central School District. Formerly, he was the Model Schools Coordinator for the WSWHE BOCES region, where he led the integration of nature-based education, technology, and SEL into regional curricula. Now in his 19th year in education, he began his career teaching in the Schenectady City and Ballston Spa Central School Districts. An accomplished author, he has written several children’s books and recently co-authored a PreK–2 nature-based program for teachers. Andrew is a passionate advocate for experiential learning, having led a regional "On the Farm STEM" training and co-facilitates the "Nurtured in Nature" program at Pitney Meadows Community Farm. A resident of Schuylerville, he lives with his wife, three daughters, and two beagles, and enjoys spending as much time as possible in the great outdoors.
Leah (Lanci) Ferrone: Leah Ferrone is a certified mindfulness practitioner, yoga instructor, and founder of Brave Lion, where she offers neuroscience-informed, nature-based mindfulness experiences for children, educators, and families. A true child at heart, Leah brings playfulness, curiosity, and wonder into all of her work. She believes that mindfulness should feel accessible and personal—supporting resilience, emotional well-being, and a deeper connection to self, others, and the natural world. Leah received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Massachusetts and has trained in mindfulness for children through programs including The Fred Rogers Institute, Mindful Schools, MindUP, and Growing Up Mindful. She lives in upstate New York with her family, and finds her greatest joy in nature.
Kate Riley: Kate Riley is a junior and senior high school teacher at Minerva Central School. Prior to teaching 7th-12th graders, she taught 6th grade, kindergarten, and second grade. She feels blessed to be able to combine her professional background as a landscape architect and her personal background in agriculture with her current classes and a second year in the Nurtured in Nature program. Over the past two years, she has incorporated more and more agriculture and nature-based elements into her classes, some of which include grow carts, aeroponic grow towers, vermiculture, compost tumblers, and the school garden. She and her three daughters live in Lake George and enjoy the changes the seasons bring to their community. When she is not at school, Kate loves to journal, sketch, and paint.
Jennifer Eversole: Jennifer Eversole has been an educator in the Saratoga Springs City School District for more than 25 years, serving as a first-grade teacher and an Educational Technology Teacher Leader at Caroline Street Elementary School. During the summer months, she provides professional development to educators throughout the country as an Amplify Professional Learning Specialist. Now entering her second year as a Nurtured in Nature educator at Pitney Meadows Community Farm, Jennifer is grateful for the opportunity to continue learning alongside children in an outdoor setting. She is excited to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new Nurtured in Nature Champions. She plans to bring the wonder, exploration, and sense of community fostered through the program back to her school community. Outside the classroom, Jennifer enjoys hiking, reading, and yoga.
Stacy Parker: For the past 25 years, Stacy has had the privilege of being an educator at Schuylerville CSD. She currently teaches fifth grade, the grade level she has taught the longest, and has also enjoyed teaching first grade and science. She is proud to serve as the chair of the school’s Effective Schools Team. One of her longtime goals is to finally bring the dream of a school garden to life after many years of planning and dreaming. She loves creating opportunities for students to learn through hands-on experiences and connect with the natural world. Outside of school, she lives in Ballston Spa with her husband and two children. They are a family of animal lovers, sharing their home with two dogs, a cat, many reptiles, and 16 chickens. She is excited to combine her love of teaching, nature, and animals to help make a school garden a reality!
Daniel Casolaro: Dan is a fifth-grade teacher at Caroline Street Elementary School in Saratoga Springs. Before teaching fifth grade, he taught kindergarten and first grade in both Saratoga Springs and Fort Ann. When he's not working in the classroom, he enjoys spending time running, hiking, and fishing in the Adirondacks and working in the flower and vegetable gardens at his home in Glens Falls, where he lives with his wife and two cats, Zucc and Hank, who like to keep them busy. He began working in outdoor education at Camp Chingachgook in 2013, and he's looking forward to sharing all the amazing things Pitney Meadows has to offer this coming year in the Nurtured in Nature Program!