A successful partnership with Minuteman High School, entering its fifth year, provides students the opportunity to get field experience, literally, that complements the concepts they are learning in the classroom. 

Minuteman is a regional public technical education high school located in Lexington that combines academic and technical learning for students from member towns in the area, including Concord. The school offers a horticulture and plant science program major where students prepare for careers in sustainable landscape horticulture, plant science, turf management, and greenhouse management. 

“This partnership is a win-win for the school and Gaining Ground.” – Mark Congdon, Director of Agriculture and Volunteer Experience

Groups of Minuteman students visit the farm weekly to volunteer and gain hands-on experience on a working farm with projects like planting and harvesting. In addition, students have the opportunity to practice other landscaping tasks like pruning trees and shrubs, managing invasive plants like bittersweet, and maintaining perennial plantings. These helpful visits begin in March, pause during summer break, and resume until November. 

One key project the students made possible in 2025 was at our expansion site at the Minuteman National Historical Park. Students worked diligently to uncover a small grove of trees that had been completely overtaken by aggressive invasive plants. Clearing out this area protects the trees and allows us to establish a dedicated meeting place with picnic tables for farm volunteers to gather.

Mark Congdon, Gaining Ground’s Director of Agriculture and Volunteer Experience, visits with first-year students as part of their career and technical program exploration, sharing his own experiences of a career in farming. Teaching the community about the value of local farming and sustainable care for the land and environment is an important extension of the work we do on the farm. Welcoming students to work alongside our professional farmers not only nurtures an appreciation of the land and environment in young people, but may just produce a future farmer one day.