A Living Textbook

The field experiences were collaboratively designed with local educators through participatory workshops to ensure they are aligned with Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOLs). The field trips are intended to enhance curriculum and make real-world connections with activities and learning points in the classroom. Seeing an American oystercatcher or a harbor seal and even being on a boat—a first for many students—become lasting memories.

All costs for public schools in Accomack and Northampton Counties—including bus rental and substitute teacher wages—are covered by The Nature Conservancy through a grant funded by NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program.

In addition to the MWEE-based (Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences) field experience initiative and two summer Nature Camp programs for children ages 6-12, the VVCR education program also provides support to local teachers and students of all grade levels through innovative approaches such as virtual classroom visits and field-based video lessons to continue the children’s connection with nature when hands-on group activities are not possible.

Professional Development: A Community of Educators

VVCR's education program also offers a variety of professional development opportunities throughout the year for local educators in all grade levels and disciplines, including workshops on coastal resilience and coastal bay ecology. 

At the start of each school year, we invite new teachers and administrators from Accomack and Northampton Counties to explore Brownsville Preserve and the barrier islands with our staff to learn more about the services we can provide them and their students, with an ultimate goal of connecting these teachers—and their students—to the special place where they live and work.

The intensive, week-long professional development workshop—Exploring Virginia’s Coast—is offered free of charge each summer by TNC to all local teachers regardless of grade or discipline taught, thanks in part to funding from The Volgenau Foundation.

Each day centers around one of VVCR’s core conservation areas, including land protection, marine habitat restoration, migratory bird conservation and coastal resilience and climate change. Teachers are immersed in daily field experiences, expert presentations and robust group discussions. The field experiences provide time to explore VVCR’s barrier islands while trips to TNC restoration sites offer opportunities to see our work in action.

In some cases, as with our oyster reef restoration work, the teachers get to jump in and get hands on, whether filling bags with oyster shells collected by TNC volunteers at local seafood festivals or donning rubber gloves to help build concrete reef substrate.

In 2020, the realities of COVID-19 presented unique challenges. The first field-based, hands on professional development workshop of the 2020/21 school year was held in August, following carefully developed safety protocols put in place by the VVCR outreach and education team led by Outreach and Education Coordinator Margaret Van Clief and Preserve and Education Manager Jenny Miller.

VVCR was delighted to welcome teachers back in August 2021, hosting educators from Accomack and Northampton County Public Schools and Broadwater Academy. We feel certain that these educators can handle with strength and compassion the post-Pandemic challenges that face them—we only wish we could give them another week to brainstorm and unwind in the wilderness first!