Lauren Roddick-Brown
Founder, Executive Director
Lauren is the founder and Executive Director at the Asheville Farmstead School. In the years leading up to the founding of the Asheville Farmstead School, Lauren Brown taught middle school science for a nonprofit boarding school. She was a founding teacher of the middle school program and an integral advocate for the middle school's yearly experiential education trips. Prior to her work at the boarding school, Lauren was involved in a two-year Master of Education program through the University of Washington and a non-profit organization called IslandWood.
Year one of her Master's degree program was held at IslandWood, where Lauren taught environmental education to third and fourth-grade students from the greater Seattle area. While teaching, Lauren was also taking graduate courses that ranged from classroom management to nonprofit management and child psychology to educational philosophy. Upon completion of the first year of the Islandwood program, Lauren received a certificate in Environment, Education, and Community (2011). Before her second year of graduate school, Lauren was a lead instructor for IslandWood’s summer camp program, where she led groups of campers ages 3-14 in a wide range of nature-based activities. During the second year of the graduate program, Lauren completed her Master in Science Education from the University of Washington, while concurrently working for Homewaters, a non-profit program that brings outdoor science investigation activities to elementary schools in the Seattle area.
Lauren is gifted at speaking with kids in a language that they understand, with clear, direct instruction, and boundless joy. She enjoys spontaneous adventures and opportunities to go outside and experience everything nature can offer. Lauren has a passion for travel; she has been to over 17 countries and aims to visit every National Park in the USA.
Lauren is also a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, has maintained a Wilderness First Responder certification through NOLS since 2012. In December 2017 she received a certification in the Cedarsong Way of Forest Kindergarten Teaching, with Erin Kenny and is now a board officer for the nonprofit running the Cedarsong Way. Lauren has been trained in Love and Logic and takes yearly refresher classes. In June 2018 Lauren was presented with the annual Natural Wonder award by the Eastern Region Association of Forest And Nature Schools (ERAFANS) while she was presenting and attending their annual conference. Lauren is an active member of the Board of Directors for The Cedarsong Way as well as the American Forest Kindergarten Association. In 2019 Lauren was recognized as Alumni of the year from the preschool she attends and inspires a lot of her work today, The Children's Garden School.
Daniel Bascuñan-Wiley
Garden Educator and Administrative Assistant
Daniel is the garden manager and administrative assistant at the Asheville Farmstead School. Daniel is a proud North Carolinian who grew up in Raleigh and moved to Burlington for school and work. He is passionate about storytelling, relationship building, and family. These passions have led him to experiences in schools, daycares, and local nonprofits both here in North Carolina and abroad in the Dominican Republic and in Chile (where his family is from!).
He studied Human Services at Elon University and always had an interest in and knack for the nonprofit sector. Daniel has 5 years experience supporting and working directly with small, community-based nonprofits. He also spent quite literally his whole life working with kids, as his mother owns a home daycare. One of his core beliefs is that we have just as much to learn from kids as they do from us. Young creativity is powerful.
Upon graduating, Daniel served as a program coordinator for Healthy Alamance, a public-health nonprofit in Alamance County. He participated in public health research, facilitated several county groups such as the Health Equity Collective and Alamance Food Collaborative, and helped oversee three farmers markets in the county. It was during his time at the farmers markets where he found a passion for all things agriculture-related. After volunteering with some of the farmers from the market, he began to work full-time as a farmhand. Although very different, he found a lot of the same community-centered values and kindness in agriculture as he did in the nonprofit world. After working the hot summer in NC, he took his skills international. Daniel spent six months with his family in the town of Quillota, Chile. Here, he added on handyman and landscaping skills that he learned while working with his tíos.
Upon returning to the States, Daniel found what seemed like his dream job. The Asheville Farmstead School connects all pieces of his professional and personal experiences. He can offer nonprofit support, get his hands dirty, and, most importantly, grow and learn with young ones. He is excited to be a part of the team!
Agnes Weyers
Lead Sprout Educator
Agnes grew up climbing trees and playing in the creeks of Bloomington, Indiana. There she attended Indiana University and received a B.S. in Elementary Education. She then taught Kindergarten for four years at University Elementary School, an International Baccalaureate school in Bloomington. She loved the inquiry based learning style of the school, where children’s curiosity drove the learning. During her time at University she was a leader on the school's equity team. She created opportunities for both students and families to share their experiences and concerns, and used this information to change policies and practices at the school. In 2021, she co-founded a LGBTQIA+ and Allies Club, aiming to create a safe space for adolescents to express themselves authentically and find community with their peers.
In her years at University she noticed that the more free play she incorporated into her student’s day, the more regulated and successful they were. At the same time, she struggled with the amount of testing and technology being pushed on the 5 and 6 year old students. She wondered what else was out there in the field of education, and that is when she learned about forest schooling, and found Asheville Farmstead School.
Agnes is grateful to now be living amongst the mountains, and working at the Farmstead. She uses her experience with inquiry based learning to engage children’s sense of wonder in nature. She supports children in developing independence and emotional awareness with modeling and clear expectations. In her free time, Agnes enjoys exploring new trails, making art, and spending quality time with her cats and dog.
Brianna Blanco
Lead Littlest Learner Educator
Brianna is the Lead Explorers Educator at the Asheville Farmstead School. Brianna’s journey prior to the Farmstead included working and living in the wilderness as a Wilderness Field Instructor for a Wilderness Therapy Program. During her two years in the wilderness, she taught the children how to overcome challenges, express their emotions safely, and primitive camping skills. She has experience in creating and facilitating recreational programs for children of all ages. In addition, she also has experience in working with children of all different needs such as; Autism spectrum, ADHD, and other behavioral health backgrounds.
Brianna is pursuing her Undergraduate degree at Western Carolina University for Parks and Recreational Management. She will have obtained her Bachelors of Science in the Fall of 2023. She believes that all levels of education are important and is striving to achieve her Graduate degree in Experiential Education.
Brianna was born in New Jersey, then moved to Charlotte, NC when she was younger. She spent most of her childhood growing up in the city. When the opportunity for change arose, she took it to live in the beautiful Smoky Mountains and has not left since.
Brianna has an enormous love for nature and the outdoors. She is not afraid to get a little dirty in the woods when it comes to playing and facilitating activities. She spends most of her free time hiking, backpacking, practicing yoga, and playing with her dog Cinnamon. Some fun facts about Brianna are that she is a pro at hula hooping, enjoys all music, and attends concerts.
Megan Lapham
Sprout Educator
Megan started as a seed in Naperville, Illinois. She grew up attending an outdoor summer camp where she felt free to authentically be herself, which included lots of singing and befriending bugs. Her connective camp experience was sunlight that grew her into a sprout that sought out nurturing relationships and introspection through nature.
Her roots in Illinois led her to study Developmental Psychology. While studying, Megan worked for 3 years at the University of Illinois’ Early Child Development Laboratory with children ages 0-6. She then blossomed into the Lead Children's Specialist at the non-profit organization Crisis Nursery, where she provided emergency childcare and led classes on human development for families in the community. At Crisis Nursery, she launched a diversity and inclusion committee dedicated to giving visibility to parent voices and creating a supportive environment within the organization. Both of these positions sparked her passion for early childhood and gave her a deep understanding of the vital role that unconditional love plays in early development.
Megan was then replanted and spent the next two years in Madrid, Spain, where she taught English to preschool and elementary students in a public school. During the summers, she had multiple volunteer experiences teaching English to children in Spain, Vietnam, and Sweden. Megan believes that a flourishing class ecosystem is dependent on encouraging each child’s unique identity.
After absorbing as much as she could abroad, Megan found the Asheville Farmstead school and felt immediately inspired. She knew it was the perfect new soil to grow in. She will be able to continue connecting with young children and nurturing new Sprouts in an environment that best supports their development: the outdoors. She looks forward to living near the mountains and continuing to do things she loves, such as traveling, playing the guitar, and yoga (and still befriending bugs, of course!) Megan is thrilled to experience the changing seasons alongside the Asheville Farmstead School community this year.
Nugget
The Farm Dog
Nugget is a thirteen-year-old Australian Cattle Dog (Red Heeler), mix and he is part of our everyday learning! The children love Nugget, and Nugget lives for the children and the Farmstead. He is kept current on all of his immunizations with the Pet Vet on Patton Avenue. According to the Westminster Kennel Club, "Their intelligence and ability to "problem-solve" guarantee the Australian Cattle Dog excel in herding, obedience, agility, or as a vital family member.
Nugget is also Lauren's registered Emotional Support Animal (ESA), through the National Service Animal Registry(NSAR) (ID: D444500). An ESA provides companionship and comfort to a person to help minimize the impacts of emotional hardships. NSAR requires the dog to be able to pass the Public Access Test, which confirms the dog can; walk beside its handler on a leash without straining against the leash, sit on command, come when called, lie down on command, and show no aggression toward humans or other animals when unprovoked.
His favorite activities around the Farmstead include; greeting his friends, chasing his frisbee, joining his friends on a forest adventure, and being there for his friends when they are sad, or get hurt. When he is not working at the Farmstead, Nugget enjoys truck rides, sleeping in sunny spots, and 'pre-washing' pots and pans for his mom!