South Kent’s North Campus farm ‘a center of innovation’

Gerd waters some new sprouts on the student-built grow tables with Vignesh and Chavka behind.
Alec Linden
Gerd waters some new sprouts on the student-built grow tables with Vignesh and Chavka behind.
SOUTH KENT — It’s standardized testing and exams season, and the South Kent School students are in the weeds — literally — of the budding agricultural program on the school’s North Campus farm.
Half of the North Campus spring crew was waylaid by academic constraints during a visit to the school’s redeveloping sustainable agriculture and culinary education facilities in the afternoon sunshine on the first of May. The four who came, though, were grateful for the chance to get outside and enjoy the physicality of farm labor.
Tenth-grader Gerd P., who joined the farm program for the spring term, said the hands-on work is a “great distraction” from the more bookish obligations of boarding school life. His mother is Indigenous Peruvian, from a family who farmed on the rockier, sandier mountain soils of the Andes. He said that he appreciates getting in touch with the land as a connection to his mother and his heritage.
Head of School Brian Sullivan said that those connections to the earth, to the body, and to the physical product of the students’ labor are sometimes difficult to cultivate in a traditional classroom setting. “We’re letting the boys get their hands dirty,” he said.
He noted that 2025 is a ripe year to experiment with alternative learning models. “There’s such an opportunity to rethink and re-envision” what an academic curriculum should look like, he said. “I whole-heartedly believe a high school education is so much more than just science and math.”
The North Campus farm was originally bought for the school 12 years ago by two anonymous alumni who helped spearhead and develop the facility and program as “a center of innovation,” said Sullivan.
After years of student-led growth, the farm was productive and even possessed some livestock, however the COVID-19 pandemic and administration changes in the school caused farm operations to fall by the wayside in the years after 2020, said North Campus Director and Assistant Dean of Students Richard Chavka.
Chavka has been with the farm since its inception and said he found a ready partner when Sullivan took over duties at the school in 2023. Chavka remembers speaking to Sullivan about the possibilities of the 128-acre plot of land that extends down to the northern shoreline of Hatch Pond. “We’re really sitting on a gold mine out here — why don’t we take another shot?” the two had wondered.
The crew, plus Chavka, Sullivan, Sullivan’s son and a dog named Tally-Ho, in front of the barn which houses the kitchen. Alec Linden
The rebuilding process is well underway, which Chavka said has been an exercise in problem solving and adaptation, largely led by the students themselves, which has been a boon to the operation because, in Chavka’s words, “these guys are pretty smart.” Chavka said that it’s important that the farm grows on its own — and the students’ — terms: “It’s going to grow organically, no pun intended” The operation is currently seeking an official organic designation from the Northeast Organic Farming Association.
Two greenhouses, which Sullivan and Chavka said were impenetrably choked with weeds a year before, are now clear and orderly. One of them houses a neat array of grow tables and raised beds — all student built — sporting sprouts and some healthy-looking carrot and spinach plants, irrigated by a drip-timed watering system that was also designed by the North Campus team.
Vignesh P., who has had some agricultural experience at home in India, said that his favorite part of the spring North Campus curriculum was actually building the tables and beds in the greenhouse. He enjoyed the tactility and clear sense of purpose the build brought, which school Director of Communications Sarah Chase said is a core motivation of the North Campus program.
“When students take charge, they’re not just managing a task—they’re collaborating, adapting, and creating something together that didn’t exist before,” she said. She explained that the core ethos of the farming and culinary instruction curriculum is for the students, by means of collaboration and leadership initiative, to learn “to do right by the land and by each other.”
“It’s amazing to see your labor get finished,” said George W., a 10th grader from Hong Kong whose urban upbringing was far removed from the food production industry.
George is transferring next year and is disappointed he won’t be able to participate in the North Campus’ “plow-to-plate” programming that will be ramping up next year. Besides growing and harvesting of food, the other half of the North Campus’ mission focuses on cooking it.
Hidden inside a formidable barn-like structure is a state-of-the-art industrial kitchen that will host classes and programs teaching South Kent students about culinary arts and the farm-to-table restaurant business. The school has been hosting Friday night culinary sessions where local chefs, school staff and other food-service professionals lead workshops for the students.
As crop growing scales up, produce picked just outside the door will be used in these sessions. Chavka eventually plans to start supplying the school dining hall, as well as local food banks. Having a service element “is really important” to the broader purpose of the North Campus as not just a school resource, but one that benefits the whole community.
While those goals are down the road, the farm already has had impacts on the crew of high-schoolers who spend every afternoon bringing it back to life. Nekhel M., an 11th grade member of the spring farm crew, said that the wholesome aspect of watching the growing process from seeding to sprouting has compelled him to think about pursuing food systems beyond the North Campus. “I might have my own farm when I get older,” he said.
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.
LAKEVILLE — Kelsey K. Horton, 43, a lifelong area resident, died peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, following a courageous battle with cancer. Kelsey worked as a certified nursing assistant and administrative assistant at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, from 1999 until 2024, where she was a very respected and loved member of their nursing and administrative staff.
Born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sharon, she was the daughter of W. Craig Kellogg of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and JoAnne (Lukens) Tuncy and her husband Donald of Millerton, New York. Kelsey graduated with the class of 1999 from Webutuck High School in Amenia and from BOCES in 1999 with a certificate from the CNA program as well. She was a longtime member of the Lakeville United Methodist Church in Lakeville. On Oct. 11, 2003, in Poughkeepsie, New York, she married James Horton. Jimmy survives at home in Lakeville. Kelsey loved camping every summer at Waubeeka Family Campground in Copake, and she volunteered as a cheer coach for A.R.C. Cheerleading for many years. Kelsey also enjoyed hiking and gardening in her spare time and spending time with her loving family and many dear friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Kelsey is survived by her two beloved children, Hunter Horton and Aryanna Horton, both of Lakeville; a step-brother, Jason Tuncy of East Hartford, Connecticut; her mother-in-law, Frances “Fran” Horton and her brother-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton III and his wife Penny of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and their son, Alec, and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton, Jr. in 2017.
There are no calling hours. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. A time to celebrate Kelsey and share stories and memories. Memorial contributions may be made to The Jane Lloyd Fund. Please make checks payable to Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (please note in memo line, The Jane Lloyd Fund) and mail to: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 N. Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257.
To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Kelsey’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.
SHARON — On Sept. 27, Eliot Warren Brown was shot and killed at age 47 at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a random act of violence by a young man in need of mental health services. Eliot was born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, and attended Indian Mountain School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife Brooke moved to New Orleans to answer the call for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and fell in love with the city.
In addition to his wife Brooke, Eliot leaves behind his parents Malcolm and Louise Brown, his sisters Lucia (Thaddeus) and Carla (Ruairi), three nephews, and extended family and friends spread far and wide.
Normally at this point one might list some interests, but in Eliot’s case, it’s easier to list what he wasn’t interested in: watching sports.
Eliot made a living as a fine craftsman and carpenter, but at heart he was an artist. He was well versed in music, painting, literature, biking, travel, Mardi Gras costumes, poker, pranks, street performance and on and on and on.Having previously hiked the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal, he recently achieved another dream of summiting the highest stratovolcano in North America.
Eliot’s creative ability was astounding. His creations were designed to bring joy to others. He didn’t seek recognition or praise, and a large part of his work was anonymous. Pieces of art would appear in the community, encouraging people to think, connect and enjoy.
From the precociously funny and determinedly defiant boy that grew up in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, Eliot grew into a brilliant, gentle souled, boundlessly creative, ever mischievous, perpetually scraggly, and astoundingly wise and caring man who made an indelible impact on those who were lucky to have him in their lives.
In honor of Eliot, please consider making donations to organizations that work to end gun violence, support the arts, or provide mental health services. A service will be held at the Congregational Church in Salisbury on Sunday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.
SHARON — Randall “Randy” Osolin passed away on Sept. 25, 2025, at the age of 74. He was born on Feb. 6, 1951, in Sharon, Connecticut to the late Ramon (Sonny) and Barbara (Sandmeyer) Osolin.
He was a dedicated social worker, a natural athlete, a gentle friend of animals, an abiding parish verger, an inveterate reader, and an estimable friend and neighbor. He was a kind-hearted person whose greatest joy was in helping someone in need and sharing his time with his family and good friends.
He was the beloved husband of Karen LaChance Osolin; the loving brother of Bruce Osolin and the late Gail Osolin Leo; the devoted uncle of Kyle and Andrew Osolin and Taylor LaChance; the brother-in-law of Debra LaChance; and the cousin of Brenda Curran, Jay Pickering and Audra Salazar.
To honor Randy’s memory, do a good deed for another or send a donation to the Little Guild, 258 Sharon-Goshen Road, West Cornwall, CT 06796. The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.