2026 Outstanding Business: Blues End Farm

There’s something extra magical about learning that happens outdoors and involves getting your hands dirty! That’s exactly what Blues End Farm brings to environmental education.

As the recipient of KAEE’s 2026 Outstanding Business Award, Blues End Farm is creating meaningful opportunities for young people to connect with nature, learn about the environment, and see themselves as part of the communities and places around them.

Through programs like Discovery Days, students get the chance to step outside the classroom and learn through hands-on experiences. They explore sustainable agriculture, spend time outdoors, garden, and learn about the natural systems around them. Instead of simply talking about environmental stewardship, students get to experience it firsthand.

That impact can be seen in the students who visit the farm. Tanyeka Percentie, Director of the Marnel C. Moorman Family Life Center and Blues End Farm nominator, has seen this firsthand through a partnership that brought youth to the farm for day camps over the past two summers.

At the beginning of the week, some students were hesitant to step into a new environment, especially those who had not had many opportunities to spend time outside of their own neighborhoods. But by the end of the week, Tanyeka saw those same students asking questions about plants, confidently exploring the farm, and even encouraging each other to participate.

For Tanyeka, it wasn’t just the activities that stood out. It was the sense of belonging that Blues End Farm created. Students weren’t simply visitors. They were given the opportunity to participate, have a voice, and feel like they were part of the experience.

That welcoming environment is an important part of what makes Blues End Farm’s work so meaningful. Many of the students they serve come from communities where access to green space and outdoor learning opportunities can be limited. By opening its space and sharing its knowledge, Blues End Farm helps make these experiences more accessible and creates a place where students can feel comfortable exploring, asking questions, and learning.

And the learning doesn’t stop when students leave the farm. Blues End Farm connects

environmental education with other areas of youth development, including literacy, social-emotional learning, and career exploration. These experiences give students the opportunity to build knowledge while also developing confidence, curiosity, and a better understanding of the world around them.

As Tanyeka shared in her nomination, the partnership has changed how students view nature, learning, and even themselves. Students who were once more reserved have become more curious and willing to engage. Those are the kinds of experiences that can stay with young people long after they leave the farm.

Blues End Farm shows what can happen when a community partner opens its doors and creates opportunities for young people to learn by doing. Their work is helping students build a stronger connection to nature while making environmental education more accessible to the communities that need it most.

KAEE is proud to recognize Blues End Farm as the 2026 Outstanding Business and looks forward to celebrating their work at the 2026 KAEE Conference in Lexington, Kentucky. The 2026 Excellence in Environmental Education Awards will be presented during the awards dinner on Thursday, November 12, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Lexington/UK Coldstream.

Congratulations to Blues End Farm on this well-deserved recognition!