College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Healthy Behaviors Translate into a Healthy Workplace
Tall, Hardy Grass May Be Energy Crop of the Future
Poultry Industry Steps Up Biosecurity Efforts
Student Team Debuts Decadent, Convenient Banana Dessert
Crop Improvement Technology Provides Benefits to Developing Countries
A Pearl of Wisdom for the Chesapeake
Getting to the Root of the Matter
Process Verification: A Boon for Beef-Cattle Producers
Microbiologist Works to Better China's Water Quality
Students Adopt Strawberry Mutants
Teaching Character and Learning from It, Too
Building Partnerships with Urban Boarding Schools
What Do Biodiesel and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have in Common?
EQIPping Growers to Protect the Environment
Timely Notifications Ward Off Vegetable Foes
How Important Are Locally Grown Foods?
Building Partnerships with Urban Boarding Schools
Plans are underway for faculty and students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to develop a unique partnership with students at two urban boarding schools. The schools, the SEED School of Washington, D.C., and the SEED School of Maryland, located in southwest Baltimore, are high-performing, college-preparatory residential schools that serve under-resourced communities. The schools provide an academically rigorous middle and high school option to urban families and students who seek a high-quality education.
Representatives from the college and Virginia Tech made a two-day visit to the SEED School of Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2007. They talked with the school’s administrators, counselors, teachers, and students about academics and career options.
“We wanted to convey to the students and teachers that there are other courses of study beyond the traditional biology, chemistry, and business curriculum available to them at Virginia Tech, says Bobbie Potter, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recruitment coordinator and community college liaison.
Administrators from the Washington SEED School followed with a visit to Virginia Tech in spring 2008. Representatives from the SEED School of Maryland, which welcomed its first students this fall, visited campus in August.
“We are looking to develop student and faculty mentoring programs with both SEED Schools,” says Potter. “Our faculty members are looking at ways that they might establish long-term projects with the SEED students that would progress as the students advance. These projects could perhaps lead to summer internships on campus when the students get to high school.”
The university has invited the SEED Schools to become partners in its Pipeline Initiatives project. The program provides free services to “adopted” organizations with the intent of improving student performance, reducing the dropout rate, and increasing the number of students continuing their education beyond high school – whether that be at Virginia Tech or another institution.
Through the Pipeline Initiatives project, administrators and faculty hope to provide opportunities for SEED students and their families to learn more about Virginia Tech and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
“We want to encourage young people to believe that they can continue their education after high school and have tremendous opportunities for exciting careers. It is a bonus if they pick Virginia Tech and our college,” said Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
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