About The Market Garden School’s Founder & Educator
Lelia’s love of hands on learning and the outdoors have long been ingrained in her life. She learned to garden from her Mom and caught the bug – hands in dirt, daily problem solving and preparing the fruits of one’s labor are true riches to her! With fifteen years of experience as an educator in both the public and private sectors, Lelia brings a passion for working with and mentoring youth. She believes in providing experiential, immersive and hands-on experiences for her students. Most recently she completed ten years of teaching at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, MA where she served as a Spanish teacher. In addition, Lelia helped to run BB&N’s two-week freshman outdoor orientation program in New Hampshire – Bivouac. Here she co-created a farm-to-table class, now in its 8th year running, that brings fresh veggies to the student-prepared meals and an awareness of issues related to sustainable agriculture and its impact on personal and environmental health. After a sabbatical year in Stowe, Lelia decided to leave BB&N to grow roots in Vermont and to pursue her passion for the outdoors, food and farming. She relishes in a life more connected to the land and to community. She graduated from the University of Vermont’s Farmer Training Program in November 2016 and currently serves on their advisory council. She resides in Stowe, VT where she continues to teach Spanish at the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy. She’s thrilled to contribute to strengthening Vermont’s food system by fostering the development of young food citizens and stewards of our land. Lelia holds a BA from Colby College and a MA from Middlebury College.