By Jill Palmer
Ciera Blackstock, a sophomore at Silver Creek High School, is in her first year there and she’s an amazing addition. All Silver Creek students are required, through Big Picture Learning, to do Learning through Internships/Interests, which are also known as LTIs.
Last fall, Ciera started interning at The Hunger Coalition’s Bloom Farm in Quigley Canyon, in east Hailey. Ciera has three mentors at her internship: Naomi Spence, Lynea Petty and Megan Schooley. Ciera has great relationships with all three of her mentors and loves her LTI.
“I chose The Hunger Coalition for my first LTI,” Ciera said. “I chose this type of internship because I liked the factor of helping out my community. I have always had an interest in plants and outdoorsy projects. There is a wide range of things to do every single day out at the Bloom Farm. One day Lynea and I may be harvesting plants and washing them, and getting the crops ready to go to the warehouse. Another day I could be working on something totally different with Naomi and Megan, from building cold frames to making an outdoor kitchen. All in all, I chose this LTI because the work being done always interested me, and I’d love to pursue this line of work further.”
Ciera explained that a day at her LTI starts with her arriving at Bloom Farm at 9:30 a.m. every Tuesday. To begin, Ciera and her mentors will meet to discuss the tasks that need to be completed that day. Ciera will get to work immediately and she won’t stop until she is done. On a typical day, she said she most enjoys working in the dirt with the plants or doing hands-on building and constructive projects. Her next project is to build a root-vegetable washing contraption in the upcoming spring.
Since Ciera started her internship, she has helped build two cold frames, a hopscotch path made of stone, a large fence, a tunnel made of willow branches with tree woven into the willow lattices, cabinets for an outdoor kitchen, and a tool cart. She was also featured in The Hunger Coalition’s executive director Jeanne Liston’s TedX Sun Valley talk about the impact of The Hunger Coalition and its efforts in the Valley.
Ciera’s passions are cooking, animal care, helping her community, snowboarding and hiking. After high school, she plans to study culinary arts, or go to school to become a veterinarian.
Ciera hasn’t made any solid decisions about her future, but she knows she wants to continue a life doing the things she loves.
