Rocktown High School Earth Club Receives $750 Green Grant
Rocktown High School Earth Club in Harrisonburg City is awarded a $750 Green Grant in the Community Beautification category as part of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s 15th Annual Green Grants program.
Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community. Grants must focus on one of the following priorities: Litter Prevention, Recycling & Waste Reduction, Cigarette Litter Prevention & Recycling, or Community Beautification.
Rocktown High School Earth Club is an after-school club dedicated to environmental advocacy, sustainability initiatives, and fostering appreciation for the natural world. Their mission includes creating and supporting student-led projects that promote environmental health and awareness from hands-on conservation.
The Rocktown High School Earth Club’s primary focus has been the design and implementation of a school pollinator garden; a space aimed to support local biodiversity and educate the school’s community about native ecosystems. The club will create bird houses, pollinator habitats, and donate acorns to educational outreach. Funds provided by the Green Grant award will be used to create educational signs for the garden, and to purchase native fall plants from a local greenhouse. The Natural Gardens sell “habitat packs” that are customized to fit specific environmental conditions suited to the high school’s garden area.
The addition of educational signage will allow the garden to serve as a year-round learning space for both students and staff, making environmental education more accessible beyond their club meetings. These signs will serve as a visual and informational anchor for the garden, enhancing its role as a teaching tool across communities. By incorporating fall-blooming native plants, they will extend the ecological impact of the garden beyond spring and summer, ensuring critical support for pollinators into the later months of the school year. This year-round habitat not only benefits wildlife but also enables them to maintain momentum and student engagement through hands-on activities in the fall. Furthermore, it opens up educational opportunities for teachers to engage with the garden during the fall months, broadening the garden’s role as a living classroom across more of the academic year.
The increased awareness of native plants and their role in a sustainable garden is an important lesson for everyone. Thank you, Rocktown High School Earth Club, for demonstrating this important message in your community!