SSFS Farm Blog Dec. 2025: Who's On Campus When We're Away

By Francis Zell '00, SSFS Farmer Educator

Note: The blog post and video below were presented at the 2025 All-School Winter Assembly. A huge thanks goes out to Keith Adams for the video editing. If you want to see several more pictures after you read the blog post and watch the video below, please feel free to view them here!<

Dec. 19, 2025

My name is Francis Zell or Franny or Farmer Franny, and I am the school farmer. A few weeks ago we wanted to see who was roaming around campus when we leave for the holidays so we smashed some pumpkins, spread some corn, and set up some cameras right before Thanksgiving break. And, what do you think we saw? Well, let’s roll the footage (thanks to Keith for putting it together) and find out:

View video: Who comes out on campus when we're away on break?

So there are a few takeaways I want to share with you as we get ready to leave for another break. The first is pretty simple and straightforward and revolves around stewardship of our campus. If deer, raccoons, squirrels, foxes, birds, and an assortment of other animals can find a few kernels of corn in the middle of the woods, I am pretty sure a shiny candy wrapper, a half eaten bag of Taki’s or other human snacks seem like tasty treats as well! But human food isn’t good for animals, it can make them sick, it can cause intestinal damage, and more. So let’s make sure we're conscious of what we leave around campus. Most of us humans are just visitors, after all, and these animals depend on our campus for their survival.

I also want to talk about this assembly's theme of light. After 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades smashed pumpkins, I asked them to write three words in their journal describing the situation. Common worlds were fun, therapeutic, crazy, entertaining, etc.. As a default, almost everyone described the situation from their point of view as the pumpkin smasher.

But, what if you were the pumpkin? I imagine you're having a pretty bad day. About a month and a half ago you got picked off the vine, removed from all your pumpkin friends, someone carved a face into you after removing your guts, and placed a candle inside you! And now, after being put on a front porch for a couple weeks, you’re getting smashed to bits by a crazy kid with a shovel. Yeah, you’ve had a pretty rough go! I don’t think your descriptors would be fun, or therapeutic!

Now let’s imagine you're the deer! As winter approaches, and all the food is drying up around you and you’re starting to get cold and hungry, magically this sweet treat comes for you to eat and it couldn’t taste better! What three worlds would the deer use to describe the situation?

Clearly pumpkins don’t have human emotions, but the ability to see all sides of a situation is actually a human skill. It leads to understanding and empathy, which are human traits directly correlated to success, leadership, and respect!. AND, It turns out the Quakers understood this for many years, long before it was studied by psychologists in modern times. Quakers simply called it finding the Light. Finding the light in a situation, or finding the light in someone else, is like considering a situation from all sides or viewpoints. And it’s only then we can achieve a way forward!

I dare say the world could certainly use people finding a little more light in each other these days! Because one thing is for sure, there are times we will all feel like the pumpkin, and there are times we will all feel like the deer!