Community Resilience Hub

This weekend we had the opportunity to visit Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas for the Resilience Studies Consortium’s (RSC) summer retreat. It was an amazing experience to see the WE Over Me Farm, located right on campus in their football field-turned-farm. We had the opportunity to listen to a couple keynote speakers who gave inspiring talks about their experiences with food justice, and the work they’ve done to help their communities. At this retreat we were able to continue to imagine what the future of resilience will look like on our campus.

It was a privilege to be a part of these conversations and to support KWU’s Resilience Studies Consortium student steward, Kelsey Shields, in her efforts to be the change she wants to see. It’s amazing to see all the different ways that the colleges in the RSC are working towards greater resilience, and that the students are able to come together and share their experiences in a way that makes all of our campuses more resilient.

Students continue to inspire us, and we know that part of our resilience as a campus is to uplift their voices as they imagine a future that is equitable and resilient for all.

An important part of our Heartland RIFT program is our connection to farming operations around Salina and throughout Kansas. Our students get great opportunities to learn firsthand from farmers.

These pictures are from Cecil Petits farm just outside of Salina. On his farm he trains border collies for Sheep Herding Trials. We are grateful to him for providing our students with this experience to learn about livestock dog training and sheep raising!

A new member has joined our farm! The Heartland RIFT program is happy to welcome a new addition, as our first-calf heifer has just had her calf. What a cute cause for celebration!

What's that on our Heartland RIFT farm? It's a new livestock fence! Our students have been working hard installing fence along much of the acreage out at the farm. Building fence is never an easy task, but it certainly is necessary!

It's that time of year when our RIFT students are going through tractor training! This is just one of the many practical skills that are learned within the 8 months of our Heartland RIFT program.

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Here’s a look at our Heartland RIFT students learning how to plant and take care of fruit trees. What a fun addition to the farm that students will be able to enjoy for years to come!

Happy Earth Day!

This week we had a very educational visit from the Kansas Soil Health Alliance. They taught our RIFT students about the different soil types in Kansas, how to take the temperature of soil, and gave a visual demonstration of the way that good, healthy soil taken from an area with living plants holds together differently than soil taken from a freshly tilled field.

It's such a great opportunity for our students that we are able to bring in local experts to talk about subjects like soil health.

Our Heartland RIFT students are on their second week of classes! The classes they are taking this trimester are:

Agricultural Humanities
Introduction to Regenerative Agriculture
Understanding the Unique Trauma and Mental Health Needs in Agriculture
Soil Science I

They have full days of classes and farm work, with wonderful instructors to guide them on their regenerative farming journey!