Now in its sixth year, Learning Landscapes has programs with Greendale, Abingdon and Meadowview Elementary Schools, EB Stanley Middle School and Abingdon High School. 

Projects underway at these schools include:

Rain Gardens - to reduce runoff from school roofs, while creating wildlife habitat

Vegetable and Flower Gardens - planted in the spring and harvested in the fall semester resulting in food production at most grade levels

Composting & Vermiculture Programs – that help students learn about food waste and decomposition while building soil fertility

Nature Trails & Wildlife Feeding Stations— Allow students an opportunity to learn from nature

Pond Programs - Learning Landscapes has helped each elementary school build an onsite pond that inspires students to learn about our watershed, water quality, pond and stream ecology

PASS Program - PASS (Positive Alternative for Student Suspension) students have helped plant trees, maintain ponds, gardens and have built bluebird trails at several schools 

Patty Barrett has been a 4^th grade teacher at Greendale Elementary School for 7 years.  In the spring of 2003 she met Denise Peterson who was then Director of the Coalition for Jobs and the Environment.  Denise or “Deni” was  working to  create an outdoor classroom at Greendale and her contagious enthusiasm immediately infected Patty.  Within the year, several gardens, a small pond, and a pavilion style “classroom”, had been built at Greendale.  Students and teachers alike were now finding new ways to bring lessons to life in a natural setting. 

“Learning Landscapes is an invaluable tool for the classroom teacher”, says Patty, “because it provides hand-on activities related to the Virginia Standards of Learning.  It allows students to take their textbook knowledge and apply it to a real setting.  I’ve found that my students love the opportunity to work with their hands!” “I wish all of our schools had the opportunity to have an outdoor classroom.  I feel it makes a difference in the lives of our students.”

“I have a dream to see every school in my community have a garden where students can learn by using their hands and their senses.  Gardens help us learn so much about the world, and they’re such a fun place to teach” says Deni.  “One of the key things that gardens can help students learn is respect.  Respect for themselves, for others, and for the

environment.  My goal is to help educate our youth to become caring stewards of the lands we call home.  Learning Landscapes is a perfect match with ASD because it helps future generations gain an understanding of our food system, our forests, our water and our air.”