DENVER (May 6, 2022) – On May 6, The Science, Technology, Environment, Agriculture, and systems Design (STEAD) School announced plans for STEAD Farms, a one-acre farm on STEAD’S 10-acre L.C. Fulenwider campus featuring a general store, livestock, greenhouse and more. The student-run farm builds on STEAD’s hands-on, project-based learning model, empowering students to build hard skills across four learning pathways: animal, plant, environmental and food sciences.
Next fall, the STEAD School will launch a new business entrepreneurship program around STEAD Farms. The farm will operate as a self-contained microeconomy, inviting students to participate in every facet of the entrepreneurial process. Students will develop an agricultural business idea, based around a product that can be produced, start to finish, at STEAD Farms. Over the course of the school year, students will design, produce, market and sell their entrepreneurial product offerings. All revenue from students’ sales will support new learning and support programs at the STEAD School.
“In our first year, STEAD Students worked with on-site beehives to produce STEAD honey, STEAD lip balm and a variety of other beeswax-based products,” said Kelly Leid, board vice president and cofounder of the STEAD School. “These students are incredibly innovative – and with STEAD Farms, we’re helping them harness their creative energy into hands-on, entrepreneurial projects. At STEAD, students are nurturing the very skills they need to thrive in the new economy.”
Among many planned efforts, STEAD Farms will launch in collaboration with the Reunion Farmer’s Market, hosted every Sunday in the STEAD School parking lot. On June 12, the farmer’s market will reopen for the first time since the pandemic’s onset, featuring several student-made agricultural products. Eventually, products developed by STEAD’s business entrepreneurship program will be marketed by STEAD students to patrons of the Reunion Farmer’s Market, along with other local businesses.
“The STEAD Farms launch is incredibly exciting, especially in the context of alarming trends in our state’s agricultural industry,” said Amy Schwartz, board president and cofounder of the STEAD School. “By 2040, , a trend that threatens the state’s future food and water security. At STEAD, we’re proving that Colorado agriculture has a bright future – one rooted in entrepreneurism, science, innovation, and real-world problem-solving.”
The STEAD School opened to an inaugural ninth grade class in fall 2021. With a focus on global health, food, energy and environmental issues, STEAD prepares students to become the next leaders in the fields of agriculture, science, policy and business.
About The STEAD School
The STEAD School uses hands-on materials, interdependent projects, cooperative learning, individualized lessons, internships, and community service to prepare students to take on the future of biomedicine, food and water security, agricultural sciences, renewable energies, and more. STEAD School students enter a pipeline to leadership positions in the world’s leading industries, and they emerge well-prepared for the future, equipped with professional portfolios, post-secondary plans, college credit, and robust work and community service experiences. To learn more about the STEAD School, visit www.thesteadschool.org.