Tina Nilsen-Hodges, a resident of Ecovillage at Ithaca who is also an Ithaca College lecturer, is leading an effort to create a charter school focused on sustainability. The alternative high school, New Roots School, would not be a project of the ecovillage but might hold some classes there and be involved with the organic farm and CSA located at the ecovillage.
At West Haven Farm at EcoVillage they are likely to work on the farm doing things like soil analysis. Produce from West Haven Farm will be part of the school’s meal program, she said.
Nilsen-Hodges imagines that students could, for instance, restore wetlands, conduct climate-related agricultural research, bring solar panels to low-income neighborhoods and create small green business enterprises. She sees students becoming entrepreneurs and community leaders, she said.
Read the article in the Ithaca Journal about the sustainable charter school
