NORWAY — This fall, The New Balance Foundation (NBF) awarded a $250,000 grant to the Western Foothills Land Trust (WFLT) in support of the Roberts Farm Classroom project. The funds granted by NBF will provide additional support on top of Federal funds approved by the district. Since 2012, The New Balance Foundation has supported the health-based educational programming at Roberts Farm Preserve in order to extend services to include students within the Oxford Hills School District.
Recognizing the impact of the program at Roberts Farm, and the need for a new facility, The New Balance Foundation awarded the grant to the Western Foothills Land Trust, whose mission is dedicated to the conservation and protection of native ecosystems, farm and forestlands, watersheds, and scenic landscapes for the benefit of wild and human communities in western Maine.
Norway is home to one of three New Balance manufacturing facilities in Maine. The NBF has been supporting the needs of communities in Maine since 2005 awarding more than $25 million in grants.
“We’re pleased to be able to support this important programming for the students of Oxford Hills and look forward to seeing the successful completion of this project to ensure kids from the community have a chance to learn and flourish in the outdoors for years to come.” Kate Bartley, Maine’s Charitable Programs Manager on behalf of the New Balance Foundation.
Established in 1981, The New Balance Foundation employs a holistic giving strategy focused on providing support to programming focused on positive youth development and a commitment to help reverse the trajectory of childhood obesity. The Foundation invests in organizations promoting active lifestyles and healthy communities by funding more than seventy-five non-profits in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe. To date, the Foundation has donated more than $140m in its work towards championing the future success of today’s youth.
While more than a decade old, the collaboration between the school district and the land trust at Roberts Farm Preserve is unusual for its scope in Maine. The 165-acre Preserve was initially acquired in 2007 with partial funding from the Land forMaine’s Future program which restricts development and division of land.
In 2009, the Trust added the 1.2-acre Roberts farmstead parcel for future use by the Trust. In 2012 the District re-purposed used modular classrooms on the 1.2-acre site and initiated a year-round Garden-to-School program. That program has grown into a nature-based learning program with a site-specific curriculum crafted to meet 5th-grade learning results.
There are two full-time staff at the Education Center at Roberts Farm, one nature-based educator funded by MSAD17, and one healthy eating/healthy living educator funded by The New Balance Foundation via Western Maine Health.
The old modular classrooms are now obsolete. This June, at a public referendum, the MSAD17 community voted to allocate $890,000 towards the construction of a nature-based classroom on-site to replace the modular classrooms.
PlaceWorks, an architectural firm in Portsmouth NH with experience in nature-based educational facilities, was selected to design the classrooms which are to be completed by the end of September 2024.