Register for Summer Level 2 Academy Course: Diving Deeper to Change Your School Culture
Level up your school's sustainability journey! This course fosters professional learning through collaboration with peers and sustainability experts. Explore innovative approaches like launching a farmers market, leading impactful field studies, and partnering with community programs. Learn proven strategies for shifting school culture, cultivating leadership, and prioritizing student-centered learning. We'll delve into seed collection, swap meets, SEL connections, and creative ways to expand your sustainability toolkit, ensuring your school thrives as a model of environmental responsibility. Classes will be held June 23-27, 4-7pm at Timberlane ES. Registration opens May 14th in MyPDE.
Celebrate Environmental Stewardship with Heritage Months
The Get2Green team has curated environmental literacy resources that reflect traditionally misrepresented, missing, or marginalized perspectives. Book lists will be posted on Schoology and shared in the newsletter. May is Asian American Islander and Jewish American Heritage Month.
Visit Get2Green at the FCPS Summer Extravaganza
Get2Green will be hosting a table at the FCPS Summer Extravaganza Saturday, May 10 from 10am-2:30pm at Woodson HS. FCPS invites all families to get a jump on summer learning by participating in engaging, educational, and enriching activities for Fairfax County students. Stop by Get2Green’s table to make paper pots, plant seeds, and take a fun summer bingo board to help you engage in environmental stewardship all summer long!
Environmental Quality Advisory Council Student Representative
Fairfax County’s Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) is accepting applications for its next student member! EQAC’s primary function is to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for improving environmental protection and enhancement, including preparing an annual report on the state of the physical environment in Fairfax County. During monthly meetings, topics such as land use, transportation, water, waste management, parks and ecological resources, climate and energy, air quality, and wildlife management are investigated.
Read W.T. Woodson senior and 2024/25 student representative Joseph Tso’s insightful testimonial about his time serving on EQAC. Rising juniors or seniors can apply to be the EQAC student representative by 11:59pm on Monday, May 12.
Virginia Naturally Application Window Open
Virginia Naturally Schools is the official environmental education school recognition program of Virginia. This program recognizes the wonderful efforts of many Virginia schools to increase the environmental awareness and stewardship of our youngest citizens. If your school has already been working with its community, resource agencies and businesses to include education about the environment in the curriculum then read on and apply for the Virginia Naturally School Recognition Award. The application window is open until June 30. Learn more and apply for recognition through Virginia Naturally.
Spring Native Plant Sales
There are several upcoming plant sales upcoming in the area, including multiple sales this weekend. Learn more about upcoming native plant sales and find one near you on the Plant NOVA Natives plant sale page.
Earth Sangha's Spring Open House and Native Plant Sale will be held on Sunday, May 4 from 9 AM-2PM at the Wild Plant Nursery (6100 Cloud Dr. Springfield, VA 22150). Learn more about Earth Sangha’s Wild Plant Nursery and find their species list and directions.
Carton Council Grant
The Carton Council is offering grants of up to $5,000 to help K-12 schools in the U.S. and Canada establish, enhance or expand their carton recycling programs. This is your chance to enhance sustainability, reduce waste, and get your students involved! Grant funds can be used to purchase sorting equipment or collection bins, create communications, print signage, establish a “green team,” and more! Please note that grant requests for the full $5,000 must go through the FCPS grants office before applying. Applications are due by May 31, 2025. Learn more about the Carton Council Grant.
NVSWCD Conservation Poster Contest
Calling all student artists! The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District is seeking students to design posters for the 2025 Youth Poster Contest. The theme for this year is ‘Home is Where the Habitat Is’. This contest is open to all K-12 students in Fairfax County, and scouts are eligible to earn a poster contest patch. Additional poster contest format categories include digital art, braille, and additional assist. Entries are due June 30, 2025. Learn more about the poster contest categories and guidelines and download your entry form here.
ALDI Community Gift Card Program
The ALDI Community Gift Card (ACGC) program offers gifts valued between $100 and $1,000 to qualified nonprofits and schools committed to supporting after-school and out-of-school youth programs. This initiative also extends to food banks and pantries seeking to purchase essential products. The application window is open through November 30, 2025. Learn more about the ACGC and apply.
Three Sisters Gardens
Learning about the Three Sisters Garden is an important component of elementary school curricula introducing its cultural and historical significance and the benefits of companion planting. Many schools have expressed interest in planting a Three Sisters Garden which incorporates planting three traditional warm weather plants: corn, beans and squash.
Creating a Three Sisters Garden can be a challenge for schools wishing to plant and harvest before the end of the school year as the recommended planting dates for most varieties of these crops come after the last risk of frost and when soil temperatures reach 60°F. In Fairfax County, the optimal dates fall between mid-April to mid-May. For a successful harvest, seeds are planted sequentially with Sister Corn planted first followed by Sister Bean 2-3 weeks later, and Sister Squash planted after the beans have emerged. The time required to observe the full cycle extends beyond the end of the academic year.
There are ways around this challenge. For some schools, having volunteers available to tend and harvest the garden throughout the summer can be a viable option. If well-tended, the garden will still be producing and ready to harvest when students return in late summer.
Another option is to plant early maturing varieties of the traditional components. Look for flint, dent, or popcorn corn varieties; pole bean and runner beans; and early- maturing squash varieties like summer, Delicata, Patty Pan, or zucchini. Finally, you can substitute other sisters for corn that don’t require a great deal of summer to grow. Try Mammoth Grey, Autumn Beauty, or Teddy Bear sunflowers or tall varieties of amaranth, including Burgundy Grain, Golden Giant, and Hopi Red Dye.
Thinking of Summer Gardens
Speaking of school gardens in summer, now is a good time to begin scheduling volunteers for summer maintenance if you are planting warm weather vegetables or have recently established a new garden including sensory, herb, native, or pollinator gardens. Summer maintenance schedules should include watering especially if we have prolonged periods of extreme heat and inconsistent rainfall. Plan to monitor for weeds and schedule to harvest any warm weather vegetables.
For those schools that have not planted or do not plan to plant this spring it is important to protect your soil and reduce the risk of weeds becoming established during summer, ensure bare soil is covered. Consider planting a cover crop in raised beds or in-ground gardens. Planting in May will give these crops a chance to become established before the end of the school year. These crops will improve the soil by fixing nitrogen and can be turned back into the soil later in late summer and early fall. If not planting cover crops, cover bare soil by anchoring layers of cardboard or tarps. This can also be done if schools have planted cool weather vegetables such as lettuce, kale, arugula, etc., which can be removed as the weather becomes consistently warm and the plants begin to bolt. Recommended cover crops to plant in spring include field peas, buckwheat, red clover, and crimson clover. Request field peas to use as a cover crop for your school garden from Get2Green.
Add 2-3 inches of mulch around plants in established gardens to suppress weeds, preserve soil moisture, regulate temperature, and prevent erosion. Be careful not to add too much mulch as this may prevent infiltration of water from rainfall over the summer. If you have old mulch in your garden, you can loosen it and turn it over before adding fresh mulch to aid in the decomposition of the older mulch. Begin to cut back perennials as new growth is evident and any pollinators that have been nesting should have emerged.
Before the end of the school year, organize and store garden tools and supplies making sure to clean everything including garden gloves. Discard any broken tools. Store any seeds in a cool dark place, not in garden sheds or greenhouses as this will affect their viability.
A garden that has been well prepared for summer will be ready to welcome you back with minimal maintenance and be ready for enjoying the late summer and fall perennials that will continue to support pollinators and for planting your fall garden.
 Find fun and exciting Get2Green updates all month by following @fcpsGet2Green on Instagram, Threads, and X.
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