Our Story
Our family moved to Harrisonville in 2019 looking to get out of the suburbs/city and into the country. Mr. Stark had dreams of hunting in his own backyard while I had dreams of building a small hobby farm filled with chickens, goats, and maybe a horse or two down the road. Although we had purchased our home and property, I always thought my hobby farm dreams were just that, a dream. Although we had an ever-growing to-do list, we instantly fell in love with the open fields surrounding us and our own little forest in our backyard. It felt like a dream watching as the land changed from season to season, each scenery beautiful and unique in its own way. Although Mr. Stark was hesitant, we soon found ourselves the new owners of some barn cats and shortly after, we added chickens too. As our property is heavily wooded, we naturally needed a livestock guardian dog to look after our flock. The craziness continued when we decided to take in 2 sweet and snuggly bunnies: Princess Peach and Bowser, and our hobby farm gained our first goats through an amazing family of one of my previous first graders. When their life plans changed a bit, they were kind enough to entrust us with their 4 super sweet Nigerian Dwarf goats: Violet, Rosie, Junie B. Jones, and Penny! As you can see, we love animals and all the love and life lessons they help instill in our children. I am so excited to continue to watch our little Forest & Farm grow!
I have been a teacher for the past 9 years and have loved spending time in the classroom with kindergarten and first grade students. Watching children learn and grow is something I’ve always been drawn to. Everyone says it takes a special person to teach kindergarten, however I knew it was exactly where I was meant to be. As time went on though, I could see so much I wished I could change in the education system to better suit our young learners. Although children in their core and hearts have not changed, the world around them has significantly changed in the last 10 years. Our fast-paced lifestyles are catching up to our children more and more and it is evident in our classrooms. Something in my gut kept pushing me to do something, but for years I wasn’t quite sure what that “something” was.
While being a teacher, I also became a mom to my own two girls. Sadie (5 years old) and Miley (3 years old). Both of my girls have grown up here and don’t know what neighborhood life is like. While there are times that I feel guilty that they don’t have a street full of peers to play with, I find peace in the opportunities our lifestyle has given them. Even before they were able to crawl, they’ve spent their days outside, romping through the woods, playing in the dirt and finding their own ways to entertain themselves. They use their imagination to create adventures, and take on challenges that other children might not get the opportunity to. As we interact with friend’s children, and other school aged children in daycare settings, I began to see just how big of an impact spending so much time with nature has shaped my girls.
While feeling that “push” in my gut to do something in the classroom, I have also felt an overwhelming sense of a “pull” in my heart to spend more time with my 2 girls outside and teaching them about our world. This back and forth “push and pull” I have felt left me feeling like I was burning from both ends of the candle. I felt like I was working overtime trying to be the best teacher for my students while also trying to be the best mom for my own girls. The realities of life kept me tied to the 8-4+ work day and we spent our weekends and evenings trying to get all the things done for our property and animals. It wasn’t until I learned about the concept of “Farm School” that I thought I might have found the true “culmination” of all the things I love. Our family had talked for years about what a dream it would be to have our own “farm school”. I craved the idea of spending each day outside teaching other children to love nature through adventure and hard work, just like my own girls do. This past year, we decided to quit talking, and make the jump. We are so excited to open Rooted In Nature this upcoming fall of 2024 and we would love for your family to be a part of the adventure!
