Nonprofit school will focus on student farming

Sherry Lewis-Peterson has already begun to till the soil that will eventually grow her dream of teaching a traditional education in a farm-like setting.

She wants the Farming for the Future Academy to find its home in Columbia Falls where it can act as a haven for students with special needs, such as autism, Asberger's syndrome or Tourette's disorder.

Nine years ago, her son Hunter was diagnosed with autism, and Lewis-Peterson said it was hard for her family to find good help. The more they looked, the more they realized that their family wasn't the only family with that issue.

"There's a need right now," she said. "And while the public school system is a good option, there needs to be more options, more organic options."

Lewis-Peterson runs her Columbia Falls daycare, Plum Tree, as she would eventually like to run the school.

Since 1999, she's owned the daycare and preschool, and in the last few years she's turned her family's backyard into a mini-farm. Strawberries, kale, chickens, and an individualized education plan are all par for the course.

She said the curriculum is written per child. Children who need more work in a certain area can get the extra attention needed to work through their education.

"It works fairly well that way," she said.

Lewis-Peterson envisions something similar for her academy, with children from kindergarten through grade 12 in a group learning environment designed to cater to each student's individualized needs.

Students who need to work on fine-motor skills, sensory issues or how to interact in social situations can all be comfortable learning math, science and history.

Those basic skills can then be transferred to and incorporated with work on the farm.

"It goes beyond the pen and paper," she said.

Her theory is that children who understand where their food comes from and know the hard work, problem-solving and care that goes into producing food will have a better connection with their community .

After months of waiting, her non-profit paperwork finally came through in June. That status makes it easier for the school to receive funding and for donators to receive a tax-break.

Lewis-Peterson is already looking for a rental property so she can get the school up and going as soon as possible.

Her son Hunter will be starting in an academy program this fall.

She is also looking to buy property around Columbia Falls for a permanent school, but it's been tough finding property that has everything she needs, she said.

October is when the academy will really start fundraising, but first she wants to make sure everything is sketched out for the future.

"Right now, what we're doing is baby steps," Lewis-Peterson said. "As fast as we get the funding, which means people are interested, is as fast as we'll get the school going."

View the school's web site and contact information at: http://www.farmingforthefutureacademyinc.org/