School Enrichment

Held at the Northern Piedmont Research Station, youth rotate through stations learning about agriculture topics such as ATV Safety, My Plate, Grains, Horticulture, Livestock, Watersheds, Erosion, etc. Stations correlate with state Standards of Learning and third graders countywide participate. Community partners and volunteers are essential to this program.

During this 21-day program usually held in the spring, youth explore the life cycle and development of baby chicks by incubating and hatching 12-18 eggs in their classrooms. Students complete relevant activities and keep a log of their developing eggs. Hatched chicks are relocated to a local farm.

Held at local family farms, youth connect with the county's largest industry--agriculture--through like area and perimeter, feeds and grains, My Plate, Regions of Virginia, Food Webs, Watersheds, and more. Stations correlate with SOL curriculum and fourth graders countywide participate. We would not be able to offer this learning experience without community partners and volunteers.

Kids Marketplace is a financial simulation adapted for elementary and middle school-aged children. Students receive a job and a monthly income in play money and decide how to spend it at the animal shelter, fun station, grocery store, bank, and other expense stations. Students are encouraged to save a portion of their income and to contribute some to charity. Youth travel between stations like furniture, pets, groceries, entertainment, and housing, where they must make economic decisions and stay on budget! This program helps youth to see the difference between needs and wants and budgeting to help prepare them for the future.

This new program is for first graders in both Orange Elementary and Gordon Barbour Elementary Schools. In this five month program, Extension staff visit classrooms, read a children's book related to food education, and provide youth new fruits and vegetables to try. The program exposes youth to fresh produce and encourages healthy eating.

In order to help high school students develop sound money management skills and a clear understanding of financial decision making, Reality Store is offered to audiences eighth grade and older. In the simulation, students receive a hypothetical family situation with a monthly income and are then required to make spending decisions on housing, transportation, groceries, clothing, medical care, entertainment, savings, and other expenses without running out of money or going into debt. Reality Store models real life experiences and includes a debriefing session for teens to share what they gained from the experience.