Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Kansas and K State are also amazing in these fields. I would also like to add that it is extremely refreshing that this thread has stayed positive with helpful advice and dialogue!

Hi, fellow Kansan!

Only by military for several years but it is a beautiful state with amazing people and great experiences and memories!

I would contact Calleva and see if she can do an internship.

https://calleva.org/farm/internships/

She could even build her own internship with them.

Anonymous wrote:University of Kansas and K State are also amazing in these fields. I would also like to add that it is extremely refreshing that this thread has stayed positive with helpful advice and dialogue!

Hi, fellow Kansan!

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a great kid! Cornell, Syracuse's ESF school, Penn State and Virginia Tech popped into my head.

+ 1 for Penn State. They are a top school for agriculture, food science, environmental sciences and forestry. A student can really expand past ag into sustainability there. Plus, when you are a student all the dairy in the dorm cafeterias comes from their own farms, including the ice-cream. BTW, Ben and Jerry went to the summer course to learn how to make ice cream when starting up.

University of Kansas and K State are also amazing in these fields. I would also like to add that it is extremely refreshing that this thread has stayed positive with helpful advice and dialogue!

Check out https://attra.ncat.org. Farms post internships, and while most begin in the spring with planting, it can help you find contact information for organic farms, which could lead to a summer job.

Warren Wilson College. All about sustainability. Have their own working farm.

University of Vermont.

Encourage him to join FFA if at his high school or if not, 4-H. These will provide ECs and summer opportunities.
Encourage him to attend a land-grant university — they almost all have sustainability programs now. Many states have summer ag leadership programs at the flagship land-grant for high school students.
—LGU ag professor

Care farms often need steady volunteers and interns. They are farms the employ adults with developmental disabilities who work alongside volunteers. He could search for one near you.

Not sure these are open to high schoolers, but he might be interested in apprenticing at a place like Polyface Farm or Twin Oaks Intentional Community.

There are also loads of international exchanges for young farmers, for example IFYE: https://ifyeusa.org

Hampshire College seems like a good fit.

Also contact The Land Institute (www.landinstitute.org). They are small enough that they would definitely email and communicate back and forth with him, snd can give advice about the best colleges, as his interests get more defined.

Anonymous wrote:The best "summer program" for a 15-year-old boy is hanging with friends, chasing chicks and trying to lose the big "V". Then when he's 16 he can throw in a lifeguarding job. I promise that living like a normal teenager for the next few years won't hold him back from being an organic farmer.

Omg the chasing chicks poster! Welcome to the thread! 😂

NC State