retribe

ReTribe provides a wide range of programs that all help to guide youth and adults through the many transformations of life. Willowell has partnered with ReTribe since 2011-- each summer bringing high quality programming to Willowell through summer camps such as Coyote Clan, Chipmunk Clan and Witchcraft and Wizardry.
 

The VT FOlklife center

Vermont Folklife Center is a folklife education organization that uses ethnography—study of cultural experience through interviewing, participation and observation—to strengthen the understanding of the cultural and social fabric of Vermont's diverse communities. Over the year, Willowell has partnered with the Folklife Center to implement grants, mentor students, and share in the common mission of affirming the vitality of the local community.

The common ground center

Common Ground Center is a cooperatively run non-profit arts, education, and outdoor recreation and retreat center. They are dedicated to bringing together and strengthening diverse families and communities through unique program offerings and facility rentals. Willowell has been very lucky to hold our Wren’s Nest Forest Preschool on the Common Ground property since the program began in 2012. The land is a diverse learning lab for students and teachers and Willowell feels very luck to have this partnership.

The Nature Conservancy

In 2010, Willowell partnered with the Vermont Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department to conserve 109 acres of wetland and forest adjacent to Pond Brook in the Lewis Creek watershed. This project extends an important wildlife corridor between the Green Mountains and Lake Chaplain and serves as a living laboratory for area schools and community groups who wish to study wetland ecology.

Addison Northwest supervisory union

The Walden Project is a public school program serving students in grades 10-12. It is run out of Vergennes Union High School with support and guidance from The Willowell Foundation. The Willowell Foundation has partnered with ANWSU over the years to bring students to the land to engage in place-based education and volunteer at the community garden. Willowell also helps organize an annual local foods feast at Vergennes Union High school each winter.

castleton university

Since 2013, Willowell has partnered with Castleton University to offer a 6 credit graduate course for educators exploring education in Ethiopia.  Through this course, educators immerse themselves in secondary schools and post secondary institutions in Hawassa, Ethiopia, while working with local youth activists and NGOs.  This course allows students to look at both the universal and cultural specific lenses of education to both inform their practice and to form real connections with educators and students in East Africa.   A number of projects and partnerships have resulted from this course and has built bridges between Vermont and the Southern regions of Ethiopia.
 

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

Middlebury College students have a long history of coming to Willowell for orientation trips, to volunteer in the garden, and to partake in service learning opportunities. In 2017 the Middlebury College Consulting Group researched and wrote a report for the Wren’s Nest preschool. This report helped guide the future of the program.
 

One Love Theater (HAWASSA, ETHIOPIA)

Founded in 2000, this organization combines circus arts, theater, and music to help bring awareness about a range of important social and health issues, including gender equality, HIV/Aids, and global climate change.  In addition to providing hands on skills to the youth performers, One Love Theater reaches tens of thousands of people through performances that combine artistry with socially positive messages that celebrate diversity, community, and public health.

WILD ROOTS FARM

Wild Roots Farm is a 10.5 acre educational landscape in Bristol, VT.  The farm utilizes restorative/regenerative practices to develop a resilient food system and provides workshops for students, community members, and veterans.  Willowell has partnered with this organization to mentor students, create workshops, and organize educational opportunities for our youth. Wild Roots Farm is dedicated to building healthy communities capable of growing their own food and planning for the future.

TRELEVEN Farm

Treleven is a learning and retreat collaborative that promotes stewardship, social action, reverence, and innovation. They care deeply about the way humans are connected with the land, with our deeper selves, and with one another. They offer workshops, classes, internships, skill-shares, retreats, concerts, celebrations and certificate programs. Treleven Farm is the proposed new site for the Wren’s Nest Forest Preschool.

ACORN

Willowell partners with ACORN to support the Tour de Farms event each year and to increase farm to school initiaves.  ACORN is an organization dedicated to promoting the growth and health of local food in the Champlain Valley. They work with growers, schools, businesses, and community and statewide partners  to double the consumption of locally-grown food by 2020.