Summer Camps

Gather & Grow Community is led by us, Andrew and Tracie Bonica. We are both licensed and experienced teachers. We have both taught in many different contexts and started several different programs in our pursuit of creating learning experiences that allow young people the freedom to apply their curiosity and strengths in a self directed and productive way. Of course, this has proven challenging in our modern education system. 

Which is why we are building something that allows young people the opportunities to practice what their good at- being inventive, using their brains and bodies to design and to BUILD! And along the way, they build their thinking skills, their planning skills, their time- management skills, their communication, their collaboration and most importantly they build a positive self image and a connection to community! 

Tracie is a preschool teacher. Once having owned and operated Wonder World Preschool in Hillsboro from 2012-2020. From there she taught in a couple of different public school programs- one being a Pre-K and one teaching high schooler's about child development. During this time Tracie pursued and achieved a Master's in Education from University of Portland. This degree path was focused on meeting the needs of Neurodiverse learners through understanding how the human brain learns.... fascinating and empowering learning! The understanding of how people truly learn and become empowered individuals continues to guide Tracie as she and Andrew create the farm-based learning and community at Gather & Grow Community. 

Andrew is a high school teacher, having taught nearly his whole Career at Tualatin High School. Andrew is also a coach, having coached the TuHS Cross Country and Distance Track team for 13 years as well. During his career Andrew has continued to seek out ways to innovate so that his teaching is relevant and engaging to all learners- especially those at risk of disengaging with the school system. This passion led Andrew to learn more about The Design Thinking process. Ultimately Andrew didn't just incorporate it in the status quo of teaching; he created a whole new program aligned with all state standards, as well. The Design Core Program allows participating teachers to collaborate and share time and resources as they co-teach Social Studies, Language Arts, and Science. Students attend many field-trips giving them hands on learning and time to talk with and learn from professionals, but most importantly students are tasked with designing solutions to real-world problems. The culminating project of this program has been to turn a dis-used soccer field on campus into a park and wild life habitat. Talk about a real-world solution! 

Now, Andrew is eager to take this model and continue to build on it's success in guiding summer campers in designing and building various projects that they can take home and use to make their own communities better as well.