Soule Homestead Education Center is a beloved community resource that is in the 33rd year in operation. This stunning 120 acre property is owned by the Town of Middleborough and our nonprofit organization leases the land in 10 year increments. We are a small but mighty organization of two part-time staff that utilizes the energy of hundreds of volunteer hours per year to impact thousands of people.
The SHEC Team:
Kelly MacDonald Weeks, PhD
Executive Director director@soulehomestead.org
Kelly manages the center and all its day-to-day operations and working parts, from smaller details like minor repairs around the farm, to managing the commercial kitchen, and overseeing and planning the center’s events, programs, and workshops. She also enjoys getting her hands dirty in the soil when she can, working with all the volunteers at the center, and engaging with kids at the farm; teaching young people about seeds and how to use power tools is another favorite farm activity. She has over 25 years experience in working with young kids, teens, and adults in varying educational capacities as a tutor, teacher, professor, and more. She and her family have been members at Soule Homestead since 2016; the youngest of her 2 boys attended his first program at just 1 week old. She has been growing things for as long as she can remember and is terrible at willingly killing off extra seedlings. She loves doing slow crafts of all kinds when she has free time and spending time outside with her family.
Isra Siddiq
Education Coordinator educator@soulehomestead.org
Isra is the education coordinator and runs and manages educational programs at the farm, from field trips, camps, and little learning moments. She has a bachelor’s of science in Geography and is someone who has always been fascinated by nature and the environment since childhood. She carries that interest and connection into her ten years of education experience, ranging from environmental education, pre-school teaching, after school programs, and nannying. She has extensive experience teaching and learning in a multitude of environments in New England, from bays, rivers, coastlines, marshes, bogs, and forests. A flexible and adaptable educator, Isra enjoys working with all ages, from infants to high school and adults! An environmentalist at heart, she strives to open people’s minds about the natural world and complexities of our environment. With a ‘get your hands dirty’ mentality she hopes to help everyone around her feel a little more comfortable in nature.
Board of Directors at Soule Homestead
Nathan Demers, President
Contact: president@soulehomestead.org
Nathan Demers, President, is a resident of Middleborough and has been serving the town in many capacities over the years including the Selectboard, Historical Commission, Tourism Committee, and Finance Committee as well as his day job as a General Contractor. In his free time he likes to go camping with his wife and two daughters.
Dave Kraemer, Vice President
Dave Kraemer, Vice President, is a longtime volunteer at Soule Homestead. He grew up helping on his family’s farm in Minnesota, and was a special education teacher in Massachusetts for over 30 years. In addition to SHEC, Dave serves on the board of the Matthew Mission Food Pantry in Taunton. He is an avid potter which he sells at Dave’s Pottery and a devoted gardener who enjoys preserving the vegetables and fruit he grows at his home.
Nancy LaFave, Acting Treasurer
Nancy Johnson-LaFave, Acting Treasurer, is another longtime volunteer at Soule Homestead. Nancy taught 2nd grade for 32 years at Assawompset School in Lakeville. She is incredibly active in her hometown of Lakeville serving on the Lakeville Garden Club, Lakeville Library Board of Trustees, Lakeville Historical Commission & Society, and so many more. She’s interested in nature, conservation, & history, and enjoys spending her quiet moments reading & gardening.
Audrey Donahue, Clerk
Audrey Donahue, Clerk, is the Director of Visitor Services at Battleship Cove in Fall River, and in addition to serving on the board at Soule she is also a member of the board for the Southeastern Massachusetts Visitor’s Bureau. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband geocaching on local trails to get out in nature and have some fun.
Angela Lang, Board Member
Angela grew up in rural Pennsylvania surrounded by gardens, cows, and horses, where tending plants and caring for animals were simply part of everyday life. Now living in Middleboro since 2009, she finds herself surrounded once again by lively creatures and growing things—this time kids, chickens, and an ever‑expanding collection of plants. She works at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, balancing her professional life with a deep love of the outdoors and the rhythms of the natural world. She enjoys hiking the local trails, swimming in open bodies of water, gardening in every spare moment, playing with her kids, and watching the birds that visit her yard. Her home is a small ecosystem of its own, buzzing with life and curiosity, and she brings that same energy and appreciation for nature to the community.
Declan Tansey, Board Member
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