January 24, 2025 Dear ::subscriber.first_name::,
Amidst snow, cold, and ice, there’s still good news to share, especially locally. This year Boxerwood will celebrate its 25th year of educating and inspiring people of all ages to be successful environmental stewards of the Earth. Read on to find out all the new things we’re working on – and thank you for sustaining this hopeful journey. Yours for a thriving Earth, The Boxerwood Team
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New Plans: Green Schools! |
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. |
Our 2025 programming has commenced in preschool classrooms across the county. This year’s program is “Wake Up Chuck,” one of our puppet-enhanced seasonal programs for young learners. This new outreach builds upon a robust season of school and community outreach in Fall 2024. Support from donors enabled us to provide hands-on programming for 2,600+ people this fall – and we’re only halfway through the year! A core element of our mission, our programs ensure people of all ages develop the values and knowledge they need to care for the Earth, our home. |
New Improvements: NEWTS & PlayTrail |
Much needed renovations are in the works for two iconic Boxerwood features: our beloved PlayTrail and the Nature-Emulating Wastewater Treatment System (NEWTS). Overseeing both projects is Hannah West, who assumed a new position as Boxerwood’s Operations Director earlier this year. |
New Adventures: EarthKeepers! |
Early in the season, middle school EarthKeepers focused on exploring the shoreline, looking for birds, investigating cattails, casting animal tracks, conducting water quality tests, mapping landforms, and so on. But there was also time for art, said Boxerwood educator Caroline Coons, “and they really loved creating walking haiku about what they were seeing and feeling.” |
As we welcome the new year, our community has already planted the seeds of possibility with a very generous $30k in donations toward our $45k year-end goal. Your generosity nurtures Boxerwood's mission to celebrate and protect our natural world through education, community action, and environmental stewardship. With January drawing to a close, please consider helping us meet our $45k target. Your gift helps ensure a vibrant start to our 25th season of programming. |
When newlyweds MacKenzye Leroy and Laurel Sheffield considered how they wanted to live out their earth care values as a couple, COREworks was part of the conversation. “We traveled a lot last year, and wanted to offset those flights,” said MacKenzye. “There were friend weddings, plus our own honeymoon.” When the couple, both 28, learned that MacKenzye’s employer double-matches employee charity donations, they made a gift to COREworks that ultimately added $2,975 to the COREworks direct impact fund. “We wanted to maximize our donation and have it go somewhere that makes a difference in a local community,” said Laurel, a Rockbridge native. “We’re fortunate to have the means,” added MacKenzye, “so it feels like a good thing to do.” The couple hopes to make a habit of supporting COREworks – and what a fine way to start a new life together. Thank you! |
It’s back! Once again we’ve secured funding to launch our very popular Backyard Compost Challenge. This annual citizen science project helps 80 non-composting households adopt new composting habits in just ten weeks, with an inspiring 98% success rate. Thanks to an award from the VA Department of Environmental Quality, the Fifth Annual Challenge will take place March 1 - May 10, 2025 with registration opening mid-February. Stay tuned! |
PARTNER IN THE PICTURE: VA Dept of Environmental Quality |
Boxerwood has taken big steps in the last few years to help more people care for the Earth by participating in food waste composting. Both the Backyard Compost Challenge (see story above) and our school-based Waste Busters program are sustained by funding from the same source: the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Each year the County of Rockbridge receives allocations from DEQ for local recycling and composting education. Thanks to a unique partnership, the County in turns redirects this DEQ funding to Boxerwood, and we use these funds to create and sustain our composting initiatives. The impact is significant. Five schools, for example, now participate in our Waste Busters program; this fall alone more than 900 students diverted 7,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill – exciting news indeed. |
Boxerwood Education Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Federal Tax ID: 54-1937944 |
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