High-quality educational programs and instructional innovations require more than what is possible with local, state and federal funds alone. Donations help us provide enrichment opportunities that are not possible without private support.
As we depend on K-12 education to prepare students for an ever-changing global workforce with constant technological advancements, using those same technological advancements to learn is critical. It is important to remember that all students do not have access to the latest technology nor do students learn the same way. Students have a range of learning challenges and styles. As a result. the GEF partnered with some high school teachers to introduce Virtual Reality (VR) into the curriculum. VR helps students have deeper engagement in the subject they are learning, resulting in improved memory recall and retention. It also helps the students develop the
all-important soft skills, such as communication, reasoning, problem solving, making judgments in real-world scenarios, and thinking creatively, to name a few.
Thanks to generosity of the John H. Wright Fund, middle and high school teachers will be able to add significant value to the curriculum in biology, agriculture and ecology. The fund will provide for capital expenses to add or expand lab facilities and materials in and around the 32’x60′ Hy-Tunnel greenhouse, which was constructed to support STEM, biology, and agriculture classes for Goochland High and Goochland Middle.
We purchased a germination chamber for the students to start plants from seed. When the plants are big enough, they will be transplanted in the Hy-tunnel greenhouse for studies in biology, agriculture, and ecology.
Students will visit Westview on the James three times a year to study life in the waterways and forest, as well as plant a garden, studying the seasonal observations in the same location to see how the ecosystem changes in each season. Middle students and high school students will be in canoes on the James River will be added to include their education on watershed systems, life, earth, and environmental sciences on the water and land. This will be managed by James River Association. Through the activities, all students will investigate and understand that living things have basic life needs and functional parts and can be classified according to certain characteristics. They will observe and measure change over time. Students will investigate the role of plants affecting air and water quality. Activities will also include planting grasses along the riverbank to prevent erosion and water pollution, and planting trees to improve air quality. They will investigate and understand that adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment as well as those organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with nonliving components in the ecosystem. They will describe how the location, climate, and physical surroundings of a community affect the way people live, including food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and recreation. They will learn how the James River was used as primary source of nourishment and transportation by the Powhatan Indians and English settlers. These studies will be incorporated into the academic lessons in the classroom.
Thanks to support from Carmax, we are launching a new program designed to create equity in education. Third, 4th and 5th grade students ‘check out’ backpacks with projects that develop and strengthen 21st century and STEM skills. Activities in the areas of biology, physics, chemistry, botany, aerodynamics, etc. will engage the student, and their family, in a home educational experience.