Ka’Miyah Roberts, 13, sprays fertilizer on the ground during her internship with the FunkyTown Food Project. Roberts, a freshman at Everman Joe C. Bean High School, accelerated in school and sports. Now, she is working on developing her leadership skills through the farm project. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)

Everman Joe C. Bean High School freshman Ka’Miyah Roberts walked around the farm spraying the ground with fertilizer despite the more-than-100-degree weather July 20.

That’s just one of Roberts’ daily tasks on the FunkyTown Food Project farm.

The 13-year-old high schooler is nearing the end of her internship with the program. She is the youngest in her cohort, but that did not prevent her from grasping all the lessons taught during the six-week term.

“This really changed how I talk to people and how I reflect on others’ actions,” Roberts said. “Even though we come out here and work in the heat, I don’t really care. I love coming out here and engaging with my peers.”

The program’s 2023 class graduates July 28. The nonprofit’s mission is to raise leaders through food and farming to inspire and engage in their communities.

Roberts, 13, reads her written internship works during her lunch break on July 20. Every morning from Monday through Thursday, the 2023 FunkyTown Food Project interns circle up and learn a quote of the day. Later, after their farm work, the interns discuss the quote and write reflections. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
Roberts, 13, stands inside a walk-in freezer. Roberts said she’s no stranger to the heat. She works in her mother’s garden at home and she played outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic — Roberts plays basketball, track and field, soccer and volleyball and plans to start powerlifting. Although the heat can be unbearable, Roberts and her classmates find themselves chilling in a walk-in freezer used to store seeds and other food. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
2023 FunkyTown Food Project intern Fiona McDonald flattens dirt with her hands on July 20. FunkyTown Food Project Executive Director Reginald Robinson, the owner of Lil Boy Blue BBQ, said the program highlights the importance of internships before college while filling the students’ brains with “all the good stuff so that they can go and terrorize and affect people in the most positive ways.” The cohort talks about teamwork and work ethic and perseverance and turns them into the kind of person who people would want to follow, Robinson said. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)

Roberts, 13, said she’d recommend the internship to anyone who loves being outside and growing.

How to sign up:

Apply here or recommend a youth.

To be eligible for the position, prospective candidates must:

  • Be entering high school or in high school.
  • Be available to every weekday of the entire six-week Seed Crew (dates posted on the requirements page.)
  • Be invited for, and complete an interview.


Seed Crew members will work 32 hours per week, and will be paid a stipend of $360 per week.

Source: FunkyTown Food Project

“We always talk about gratitude and being grateful for the things that we have,” Roberts said. “It’s a great program. There will never be a dull moment out here, you will be treated as you should be treated and they are amazing people to work with.”

Cristian ArguetaSoto is the Fort Worth Report’s community engagement journalist. You can reach him at cristian.arguetasoto@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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Cristian is a May 2021 graduate of Texas Christian University. At TCU, ArguetaSoto served as staff photographer at TCU360 and later as its visual editor, overseeing other photojournalists. A Fort Worth...