
In a transformative leap forward, Boxerwood has been awarded a 3-year grant to develop comprehensive Environmental Literacy Plans (ELPs) with two local school divisions. The highly competitive $150,000 award comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET), whose mission is to advance K-12 conservation education and action in the Chesapeake Bay region. Boxerwood’s proposal requested funding to develop ELPs with Rockbridge County Public Schools and Lexington City Schools, the two divisions who share a common high school, RCHS.
“ELPs are a new state strategy for ensuring that the next generation acquires the knowledge, skills, and motivations to actively care for the Earth as informed and engaged citizens,” explained Elise Sheffield, Boxerwood’s Program Director. According to Elise, few divisions in the Commonwealth have created ELPs so far, the majority being large divisions like Arlington, Prince William, and Richmond. Boxerwood’s endeavor will be one of the first rural efforts in Virginia. It will build on the success of Project NEST (Nurturing Environmental Stewardship Together), Boxerwood’s ongoing school partnership program that each year connects 2,500 Rockbridge-area youth with hands-on outdoor learning.
“Boxerwood has long served as a model for rural environmental education,” said Elise, “and once again this grassroots approach has attracted broader attention and investment.” Unlike previous Boxerwood awards from NOAA, this grant does not underwrite student program fees, however. Instead, it invests in the creation of the Environmental Literacy Plan itself. “Most of the funding goes to Boxerwood for considerable staff time working with the two divisions to create this guiding ‘greenprint,’” explained Elise. Grant activities include research, interviews, teacher workshops, and drafting the document with help from public school design teams who will receive professional stipends for their work. “Developing this plan with teacher leadership was the divisions’ idea,” said Elise, “and we’re really excited about that – this is a plan made by and for the schools.”
According to RCPS administrator Rick Bain, the project will help his division “organize, strengthen, and share” coordinated plans for promoting environmental literacy across the grades. By design, a customized ELP not only outlines K-12 curricular integration but identifies pathways for advancing student environmental literacy outside the classroom as well. These pathways include developing the instructional potential of schoolyards, adopting green practices in school operations, integrating concepts of sustainability into career and technical education, and creating professional development opportunities for teachers. In these ways, ELPs become guiding documents for school boards and division administrators. Due to their coordinated nature, ELPs also increase the effectiveness and impact of environmental learning already underway. “Basically, it’s a win-win approach to maximizing the impact of Project NEST for the long term,” explained Elise, noting that the scope of the ELP will incorporate other community partners as well.
A unique feature of the Boxerwood proposal is the creation of a series of 5-minute professionally produced “how-to” videos. Intended for both internal and external audiences, the videos will highlight how Boxerwood and its school partners have worked together over the years to create Project NEST. “Many divisions in the Chesapeake Bay region are moving toward integrating environment-based learning into their practices, but are unsure how to accomplish it. Our ‘stone-soup’ model of getting things done is worth sharing,” said Elise, noting that NOAA was eager to fund the videos in order to disseminate our approach more widely.
As for the project timeline, activities kick off this month with meetings between Boxerwood, RCPS division administrators, and a NOAA representative. After a period of research and planning, Boxerwood will convene teacher design teams this summer to start drafting an ELP for Rockbridge County Public Schools. Following additional revisions, the ELP will be introduced for school board adoption sometime next year, with work commencing with Lexington City Schools after that.
“Boxerwood’s mission is to educate and inspire people of all ages to become environmentally successful stewards of the Earth,” said Elise. “We’re honored to work with our school partners on this big step forward, a culmination of many years of collaboration and commitment.”