Williamsburg-Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom has awarded Walsingham College a grant for the 2021-2022 school year, which will help fund the expansion of the learning garden of the junior school.

Virginia Agriculture in the classroom is a program to promote agricultural education to children and youth. Walsingham currently uses the program's curriculum in different grades of the lower school. 

Kim Ward, Walsingham's junior science coordinator, said that students in the Walsingham Early Learner Program (Pre-K3) have begun to study plants.

As students transition from the lower grades, activities become more complex, including STEM courses, greenhouse activities, and learning garden research.

Activities include farm-to-table taste testing courses, design and installation of rainwater gardens, and installation of Monarch Waystation, pollinator garden beds and bluebird monitoring stations in their junior learning gardens.

"Despite our efforts to help students explore these basic themes, our learning garden has been missing a major component-a raised gardening area outside the controlled environment of the school greenhouse," Ward said.

Ward said she applied for grants to help fund their ongoing scientific program projects. 

"After investigating Virginia Agriculture in the classroom grant, I knew it would be a good way to help us initiate the expansion of the learning garden," Ward said. "This grant will give us the opportunity to purchase two weatherproof raised garden beds that will last longer than traditional wooden boxes." 

Ward said that in the future, they hope to install more elevated garden beds, walking paths and additional pollination beds in the learning garden.

Walsingham College is the only school in Williamsburg-James County to receive this funding.

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