Goldie, Kale, Chard, Curly, Tasha and Teetee have company coming.
As the 20 chickens roam the urban agriculture project at Tucson Village Farm, they will soon be joined by goats, a dozen new chicks and eventually sheep as part of the new Animal Education Center, which opens in early March.
The farm on Roger Road has been there since 2010 and is home to many camps and clubs. It’s a fave of school kids all over Southern Arizona.
Coming in March, the farm will include space for sheep and goats (and more chickens) at its new Animal Education Center. Over the last few years, Tucson Village Farm has raised more than $255,000 for the facility and animals.
“People have asked us for years if you’re a farm, why don’t you have farm animals? Where are your farm animals? And we do live in a very intense climate,” said farm Field Trip Program Coordinator Sabra Mayer.
“It’s very hot here and having animals is a very challenging thing, but we also know that animals are really good for kids. They’re really good for their social and emotional learning, for developing a sense of empathy, and responsibility, and goal setting. So, having animals here at Tucson Village Farm has been a dream for a long time.”
The farm is a destination for K-12 school field trips and hosted about 8,000 students last school year, Mayer said. Over 10 weeks last summer, it had 33 camps.
“The animals are a way of promoting healthy living in the community and that’s really the mission piece,” Mayer said, adding the animal education program will be piloted with just the chickens and goats first and then sheep. “We will be creating hands-on learning opportunities for communities to connect to animals with educational programming, demonstrations, participation opportunities, and engaging with animals and animal education that will be cultivating leadership, responsibility, and knowledge in young people.”
ASDB confirms its move
The Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind confirmed it has signed a lease with Amphitheater Public Schools to rent the space at Copper Creek Elementary School and move about 15 miles, or 25 minutes, from the site it has occupied for over 100 years.
The northwest side school is one of four elementary schools the Amphi district will close at the end of this school year, because of low enrollment.
ASDB, which serves about 120 students here from all over the state, will leave its home on west Speedway.
A second ASDB campus operates in Phoenix. The campus here includes grades K-12. It has day students and also boards some learners. Its campus was built for about 400 students.
ASDB administrators shut down a public meeting earlier this week because the crowd spoke out and questioned administrators about the Oro Valley move.
More meetings with staff and families are scheduled in the coming week.
Read the whiteboard
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