Re-Imagining Education

What would it look like if all children took part in nature-based learning throughout their public school years? In this respect, the Rockbridge area is already lightyears ahead of many communities thanks to Boxerwood’s 25-year partnership with local schools. Our signature program, Project NEST (Nurturing Environmental Stewardship Together) ensures hands-on, outdoor learning for more than 2,400 children each year. There’s always room for improvement, though, and this year Boxerwood and our school partners received an environmental literacy planning grant to more deeply integrate – and expand – those opportunities across the curriculum. 

Environmental Learning Plans (ELPs) are fairly new in Virginia, with Boxerwood pioneering the way in the western part of the state. Funded by the Chesapeake Office of NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education Training program, grants for ELPs were awarded to only about five applicants this year, including Boxerwood. In this 3-year project, Boxerwood will be working with two local school divisions to develop and implement a blueprint for cross-disciplinary environmental learning. The blueprint includes existing Boxerwood field programs as foundational experiences, but envisions more teacher-led nature-related learning in classrooms and schoolyards as well. “Basically it’s a map to show how all students will graduate from high school with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to be active Earth citizens,” said Elise Sheffield, Boxerwood’s program director who is leading the project along with colleagues. Once completed, the ELP will be shared as a model and inspiration for other communities through NOAA communication platforms.

Boxerwood kicked off the planning this summer with a series of work sessions involving a cohort of 18 teachers from Rockbridge County Public Schools. The teachers, who received a professional stipend for their work, represented many different grades and disciplines. Along with many classroom educators, participants included a librarian, two guidance counselors, and two Career and Technical Education instructors who specialize in building trades & agriculture. Over the course of 40 hours, the teachers drafted goals for the RCPS plan, mapped nature-based activities already happening, outlined an overall thematic structure for preK – 12 environmental learning opportunities, identified core field experiences for all students, brainstormed additional optional school-based activities, and compiled a list of community partners.

The teachers also boosted their own knowledge of environment-based authentic learning by participating in a hands-on watershed investigation led by Boxerwood educators along Colliers Creek, near the School Board office. “That day was definitely a highlight,” said Elise. “Those teachers loved getting into the creek and catching crawdads and other macro-invertebrates – just like the kids!” 

“The teachers really gave it their all, both in the creek and back in the work sessions,” continued Elise. “They were a wonderful team to work with. One of the things that stood out to us was their delight in forming new connections across grades and schools. They told us they felt especially energized by finding ‘like-mindeds’ who also wanted to create more nature-integrated learning for their students.” Boxerwood has done professional development workshops before, she explained, “but something was different about this one. Maybe it was the large size, the diverse cohort, or the project goals themselves, but whatever it was, all us could feel something new arising – a collective and deeply invested force for good in our community. This truly was a transformative experience.”

Using the material generated in the work sessions, Boxerwood will be crafting a draft ELP document this fall and gathering more input from teachers and division administrators. Implementation of the plan will roll out in subsequent years, with a series of outdoor, hands-on workshops for teachers planned next summer.  

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