Kimberly Stroud is launching LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School at her family’s Acorn Acres Farmstead outside Mount Olive. She will offer nature- and agriculture-based summer camps in June, July, and August, and she’ll offer programs for homeschool families in the fall. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Participants in Kimberly Stroud’s LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School will learn to care for animals — like Socks — at Acorn Acres Farmstead outside Mount Olive. (Kimberly Stroud|Courtesy photo)
Six-year-old Archer Stroud demonstrates the kind of close-up encounter students can expect to have with the animals at Acorn Acres Farmstead during summer camps offered by his mom’s LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School. His sister, Jonnasen, 8, is in the background. (Kimberly Stroud|Courtesy photo)
Kimberly Stroud describes this quiet, shaded area on Acorn Acres Farmstead as ‘a magical place’ where students of her LEAP program will spend some of their play time. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|Courtesy photo)
Ducks, chickens, and turkeys are raised at Acorn Acres Farmstead. By participating in programs offered by LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School, students will learn to care for these animals. (Kimberly Stroud|Courtesy photo)
This sow and her piglets are typical of the animals students will learn to care for when participating in Kimberly Stroud’s LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School. (Kimberly Stroud|Courtesy photo)
A former elementary teacher in the Sampson County public school system, Kimberly Stroud, is now launching her own education initiative: LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School. Beginning in June, she will offer three separate week-long summer camps focused on outdoor- and agriculture-based learning, and in the fall, she’ll continue offering similar programs specifically for homeschooling families. LEAP will be located near Mount Olive on the Acorn Acres Farmstead that Stroud shares with husband Josh, stepson Joshua (who is soon to graduate from Midway High School), 8-year-old daughter Jonnasen, and 6-year-old son Archer.
Stroud carefully chose the name “LEAP” to convey the various aspects of her program: Learning, Exploring And Playing. Specific activities students can expect to participate in include caring for farm animals, learning about native plants, journaling, cooking, and gardening. Stroud plans to incorporate STEM and art activities, and — although it’s an outdoor-based program — she intends for books to play a big part in the students’ learning. “I’m a certified reading specialist for grades K-12,” she explains. “The program will encourage students to find answers to questions for themselves, solve problems, and learn through investigations.”
Furthermore, she adds, “A shared whole-group time will allow mixed-age grouping, which research shows is beneficial for students to learn from each other. It builds language development and allows kids to recognize their strengths. Additionally, my program will emphasize what students can do, rather than what they can’t do or haven’t [yet] learned.”
The summer camps are open to kids from ages 5 to 12, while ages 13-15 can sign up as junior counselors, and ages 16 and 17 are invited to volunteer. Each camp will run Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., during the following weeks: June 24-28, July 8-12, and August 5-9. A fourth week, in September, may be added is there is enough interest.
While launching LEAP is a brand-new endeavor, Stroud’s background has her well-positioned to — yes — take the leap. She has significant credentials in the education world, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Educational Technology, both from East Carolina University, and having taught 2nd and 4th grades and worked as a kindergarten teacher assistant in Sampson County Schools. She is also licensed in Visual Arts, K-12.
She was especially influenced by two other educational opportunities she took part in, both of which have guided her in the creation of LEAP. Approximately 10 years ago, as a recipient of the Simple Gifts Grant, she traveled to the Indonesian island of Bali, where she visited the Green School. “At the Green School, students learn from and in nature,” she notes. “The learning is embedded in meaningful projects that allow kids to take ownership and everything is connected to their community and how they can make a difference. The learning is not separated into separate disciplines like you find in typical educational settings.”
More recently, she completed training through the Forest School Teacher Institute, located in Chattanooga, TN. The Institute’s approach to outdoor-based learning caused Stroud to completely change her perspective on how students learn: “When you observe students in such settings, you see that they are the ones solving problems for themselves, and they are engaged. This is how true learning takes place, when we do things ourselves. This happens naturally when the student is allowed to take ownership and they enjoy what they are learning.”
Stroud insists that it isn’t just her degrees in education and work experience in that field that qualify her to start her own nature-based school. She notes that she started working at age 15 at Dairy Queen and went on to hold a variety of jobs over the years: working at a woman’s shelter, a dry cleaners, and in a WIC office; making pizza and making syrup for Hawaiian Shaved Ice; and selling jewelry and beauty products. And, of course, she currently works with her family on their farmstead, raising and selling pork, chicken and eggs; she also owns Happy Heart Elderberry, making and selling elderberry syrup and related products. “I think trying different types of jobs gave me a lot of experience with diversity and people from all walks of life, and this has impacted me to have an entrepreneurial spirit. I am definitely a lifelong learner and always seeking to grow.”
To that end, she has recently been enrolled in a class called “GROW for Women Entrepreneurs,” through Wayne Women’s Professional Network, a networking group for women entrepreneurs, where, she says, she has enjoyed getting support from likeminded people. This support will be particularly helpful, Stroud feels, as she moves forward with an additional facet of her new program. “I’m also starting a nonprofit called Grow LEAP Outdoors Foundation to help with scholarships for our programs, community education and outreach, learning resources, and further training,” she notes.
And, not surprisingly, this lifelong learner has her eye toward yet another opportunity to further her own education. N.C. State University is offering a course in Outdoor Learning Environments for Young Children. “I’m interested in pursuing this,” Stroud says.
“My goal with LEAP is to challenge our community to think about learning and success differently,” continues Stroud, who is homeschooling Jonnasen and Archer. She would like to see parents “decide for themselves what learning should look like for their kids and family, and to integrate values and social development into the process…Everyone doesn’t do well in formal educational settings; we shouldn’t feel ashamed because we choose not to learn like others do.” In making her point, she cites two men whose ideas and inventions changed the world: Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin, both of whom had very limited formal schooling and were educated largely by reading and, in Edison’s case, homeschooling by his mother.
Stroud invites anyone interested in any part of LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School to contact her, whether it’s parents wanting to inquire about summer camp or homeschooling programs, or community members wanting to know more about the programs and how they could possibly become involved. For more information, email infoLEAPnc@gmail.com or visit the LEAP Outdoors Farm and Forest School Facebook page.
