This week’s lesson started with an eggplant.
At Project Horseshoe Farm’s Community Center Program, a CLIMB student stood before a group of Greensboro residents, held up the vegetable and shared what she had researched about its potassium content. The moment was part of Produce of the Week, a hands-on activity that gives students the chance to learn, prepare and present health information to the community.
For a lot of teenagers, standing up and talking to strangers is not a natural skill. CLIMB students are doing it anyway, one vegetable at a time.
On Wednesday, the students will visit Diversicare nursing home a few miles away, sitting beside residents to work on paper crafts. The visits build relationships within the community, give students a firsthand look at what elder care involves and give residents a conversation that isn’t with a nurse.
For CLIMB’s high school students, summer is less about sitting through lectures and more about getting into the community. Alongside healthcare lessons and ACT preparation, students are learning by doing, with hands-on service at the center of the season.
The program, run by Project Horseshoe Farm, has built its summer around getting students out from behind a desk and into the parts of Greensboro that need extra hands.
Twice a week, students ride along with the Meals Out Program, helping prepare meals using produce pulled straight from the garden, then delivering those meals to residents across Greensboro. Alongside the food, students write out recipe cards so the people receiving meals know exactly what’s in them and how it was made.
At Horseshoe Farm, CLIMB students also work directly with younger children through the Summer Youth Program, providing one-on-one time in reading and math. The students also help make snacks for all the kids earlier in the day.
The CLIMB students haven’t stayed local the whole summer. A recent trip took them to the local animal shelter, and next week they head to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where they’ll walk through anatomy labs and science centers and be introduced to careers in healthcare.
CLIMB is now recruiting high school students for its fall programs and is looking for young people ready to learn outside the classroom. From healthcare lessons to hands-on service, students will have the chance to build confidence, serve their community and discover what leadership can look like in action.
