At the Alice Ferguson Foundation, we enjoy hearing of the memories from adults who visited Hard Bargain Farm as students. We are delighted to spotlight the life-long impact the fifth-grade overnight experience has had on Susie Thompson, as a mother and in her current role as Executive Director of The Jude House.
The year was 1986 and Susie Thompson was a new student at Dr. James Craik Elementary School in Charles County, arriving just in time for the staple experience of fifth grade, the overnight stay at Hard Bargain Farm. In 2011, Maryland became the first state to mandate Overnight Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences as a requirement for public school graduation. The Alice Ferguson Foundation is a primary provider of this requirement for school systems across the Potomac Watershed, delivering outdoor programs aligned with the state’s environmental literacy standards.
“It was the first overnight trip I had ever been on,” shared Thompson. “When you reached fifth grade, going to Hard Bargain Farm was your reward.”
Some of her fondest memories of her visit include singing silly jingles, rolling down the big hill near the Ferguson’s Farmhouse, milking the dairy cow, and playing tug-of-war with her future husband, who was also a student on the trip.
Susie shared that because of the memories she made here at the Farm, she couldn’t wait to do it with her own children. So when similar experiences came up, she was the first to volunteer as a chaperone.
Today, Susie serves as the Executive Director of The Jude House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Bel Alton, Maryland. During their 6-9 month residential program, patients spend time reconnecting with their loved ones in a safe and distraction free environment and together, build plans for what life will look like once they return home. Plans are developed through a series of discussions and hands-on activities, which Susie noted as an important takeaway from her learning experience at Hard Bargain Farm. “When you do something you’re going to remember it.”
Did you visit Hard Bargain Farm as a student? Tell us your memories here and you might just be featured next!