Middletown, RI – Gaudet Middle School student, Tyler Hicks, was recently recognized as a Feinstein Jr. Scholar by The Feinstein Foundation. As part of his Golden Ticket package, Tyler had the opportunity to gift a $500 grant to an organization of his choice. He generously chose the Portsmouth AgInnovation Farm.
The Portsmouth AgInnovation Farm is a student-driven community farm education program where students problem solve during authentication learning and community collaboration, so they become productive citizens in our community. Tyler didn't hesitate when he said he wanted to donate the funding to AgInnovation based upon his experience this Spring at the farm during the Middletown afterschool program, led by Ryan Brancato and assisted by URI Fellow Westin Palumbo. This was the first time Middletown has joined the afterschool program at AgInnovation.
Tyler presented the grant award to the farm on June 28, 2023. Ryan Brancato received the gift on behalf of the farm, saying “Thank you so much to Tyler for his leadership. We loved having him in our after-school program this Spring. This gift will be used to support programming on the farm, but it will also inspire other students to work hard so they might one day receive their own Golden Ticket.” When asked what his favorite thing to do on the farm was, Tyler said, "planting the sunflowers." Tyler also has an uncanny ability to spot a 4-leaf clover at the farm within minutes of his arrival. In addition to the grant gifted to the farm, Gaudet Middle School received a $5,000 grant from The Feinstein Foundation.
The farm was started in 2019 through a partnership between Portsmouth Middle School and the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD). ERICD District Manager, Sara Churgin, said, “A huge ‘thank you’ to Billy Niemeyer, Gaudet Principal, for seeing the value of having middle school students participate in the AgInnovation program. This is a partnership we are looking to grow. And thank you to Margie Brennan, Portsmouth Science Coach and Portsmouth Middle School, who continue to spearhead the farm’s education programming, which has grown substantially since the farm started.”
Tyler, who is moving to Portsmouth with his family, will be in the ninth grade in Fall 2023 and plans to continue to attend programming at the farm.
