'More Than A Market': Lindenhurst Community Embraces Hands-On Learning

LINDENHURST, NY — Lindenhurst students are getting a unique experience in their community thanks to a partnership with the Lindenhurst Farmers Market which launched earlier this year.

Students in Lindenhurst High School's Work Based Learning Program have been working with the market since market founder Darlene Perez Fantel got the idea after the school's student orchestra performed at the market last summer.

"The success of that idea made me want to expand upon it," Fantel told Patch. "So I reached out to Regina Murnane, a business teacher in the high school who is a Career and Technical Education and DECA advisor. She mentors students in the LHS Work Based Learning Program. The program empowers students through hands-on work-based learning experience by bridging classroom knowledge with real world skills."

Murnane loved the idea—which gives students school credits with hands-on learning at the market—and the two vowed to make it happen. In late September, the dream came to fruition on a sunny Saturday that Fantel called a "successful one."

"A ninth grader in Regina’s class showed up early and was a huge help to our farmers," Fantel said. "The student did amazing and will be returning weekly. The intern’s friend visited during market hours. His friend said to me I am interested in joining the program and we have two other students that showed interest."

Fantel says she hopes to "expand the concept into many areas of talent in the school" and she's drawing inspiration from the community around her.

"My granddaughter, who is now a senior in LHS started doing these markets with me at age nine," Fantel said. "She just turned 17 and is now running booths at street fair and markets for small local businesses and is successfully selling their merchandise."

Fantel's 11-year-old granddaughter also "insisted" on becoming a vendor and sells farm-fresh eggs at the market as a third party vendor.

Students are also spending time at the market doing PTA fundraisers, making bracelets to help restore local parks, and baking cookies.

"The most recent student asked to be a vendor so she could fundraise for the victims of the West Babylon families that we’ve all been praying for," Fantel said. "This kind of exposure in the community for the young kids will help build their skills on so many levels. We are more than a farmers market."

The Lindenhurst Farmers' Market takes place on Saturdays through the summer until Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 116 N. Wellwood Ave.