Mark Your Calendar for #FCPSEarthWeek - April 20-24
 Spring is almost here, and that means Earth Week is around the corner! Get2Green is hosting FCPS Earth Week April 20-24, 2026. The themes for Earth Week are:
- Monday, April 20 – wear nature print for Wildlife Day
- Tuesday, April 21 – wear white for Zero Waste Day
- Wednesday, April 22 – wear green for Earth Day
- Thursday, April 23 – wear red for Climate Change Day
- Friday, April 24 – wear blue for Watershed Day
Engage students with FCPS Earth Week BINGO boards, Days of Service, and more. Check the Get2Green Earth Week webpage for everything you need to get started. Use #FCPSEarthWeek to share how you’re celebrating.
FCPS Students Are Invited to Get2Green’s First Student Action Summit
Join fellow FCPS students in grades K-12 for an evening of learning and connecting about environmental action at schools. The Student Action Summit will take place Thursday, May 14 from 5:30-7pm in the FCPS Welcome Center at 8270 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Fairfax, VA. The evening will include:
Student Sharing- an opportunity for students to share their Get2Green/environmental story and learn from one another’s successes.
- Interested in sharing? Here are some topics to include: What issue are you working to solve? What did you try? Who helped? Presentation options are flexible and may include a tri-fold board, artifacts from your work, or a slidedeck. We encourage students to work as a team to share.
- Those who choose not to present will have the opportunity to walk around, listen, and connect with those sharing.
Facilitated breakout discussions on environmental issues- talk in small groups about challenges and possible solutions to issues such as Outdoor Learning, Gardening, Zero Waste (reducing waste, food sharing, recycling), and Climate Change.
This event is open to all students in Fairfax County Public Schools. Elementary school students must be accompanied by an adult. Register for the FCPS Get2Green Student Action Summit. A confirmation email with additional details will be sent to all registrants and their families. Questions? Email Get2Green@fcps.edu. Registration closes on May 8, 2026.
Check out and share the Get2Green Student Action Summit event flyer!
April After School Special: Strategies to Support Diverse Learners
In this interactive session, we'll explore inclusive strategies and frameworks to ensure all students can actively participate in environmental stewardship. Together, we'll dive into practical approaches for engaging neurodivergent learners, multilingual students, and those with diverse abilities—empowering every learner to become an environmental advocate. This after school special will take place at Annandale HS on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 from 5-7pm. Register for the April After School Special in MyPDE. FCPS staff can browse all of Get2Green’s 2025-26 professional development offerings in our catalog (must be logged into fcpsschools.net account).
Congratulations to Get2Green Leaders Laure Grove and Carley Fisher-Maltese
Congratulations to Laure Grove, the Get2Green Leader at Terra Centre Elementary, who was awarded the Best of Green Schools K-12 Educator award by the U.S. Green Building Council. With her support, Terra Centre has earned a Green Flag from NWF for the last two years and students advocated to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to adopt the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge.
Congratulations are also in order for Carley Fisher-Maltese, the Get2Green Leader and STEAM Teacher at Willow Springs Elementary, and Arina Pavlenko, a Willow Springs alumna and eighth grader at Katherine Johnson Middle School, who are the author and illustrator, respectively, for the book The Garden at School. This new book is “a story about three diverse young children who discover the school garden and bluebird trail at their own elementary school and the loveable, quirky, and knowledgeable garden leader who opens their eyes to the wonders of the natural world.” The book is based on their experiences in the garden at Willow Springs ES, which was highlighted in this video.
High School Students Invited to Join the Superintedent's Youth Environmental Council
The Superintendent's Youth Environmental Council (SYEC) was founded by students for students and represents students from across the division who are dedicated to making FCPS a global leader in sustainability. SYEC would like representation from every high school! If you know a high school student or you are a high school student in FCPS who has a passion for the environment and would like to join, students or their families can email superintendent@fcps.edu with their name, school, and contact information to join. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 12, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Gatehouse Administration Center Café, 8115 Gatehouse Rd., in Falls Church.
Spring Tree Rescue Extravaganza
Interested in joining the community-wide effort to save local trees from the invasive plants that are threatening them? All are invited to participate in the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management) Spring Tree Rescue Extravaganza taking place March 21 - April 12. People from across Fairfax County and Falls Church will celebrate the end of winter by getting out in the fresh air to clip the invasive vines or dig up other invasive plants.
Registration is required. More than 40 events will soon be listed on the Fairfax PRISM website, where you can also learn about other ways to help or to get help with this work.
NVSWCD College Scholarship
Fairfax County high school seniors or college freshmen are eligible to receive a $1,000 Future Conservation Leaders Scholarship from NVSWCD. This scholarship supports studies related to natural resource conservation and invests in the talented youth of Fairfax County. NVSWCD’s Future Conservation Leaders Scholarship award winner will also be submitted to the VASWCD Educational Foundation committee for review and may be eligible to receive one of four $2,000 state-wide scholarships. Apply by Wednesday, April 1. Learn more and apply for the Future Conservation Leaders Scholarship.
Youth Conservation Camp for HS Students
Applications are now open for Youth Conservation Camp, a week-long summer camp sponsored by the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. This year’s camp will be held July 12-18, 2026 on the Virginia Tech campus. This program will focus on forestry, soil, aquatics, and wildlife to teach 9th-12th graders more about the natural world with hands-on experience with conservation professionals. NVSWCD offers financial assistance and nominates campers in this selective program. Students in grades 9-12 are eligible to apply. Applications are due Monday, April 20. Learn more about Youth Conservation Camp, including how to apply and contact NVSWCD with questions.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Summer PD Opportunities
Join Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a professional learning adventure this summer! Chesapeake Classrooms courses are designed to model a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) through participant-driven field experiences and authentic research. Each course equips teachers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to create and implement their own MWEE. Collaborate with a community of educators in an immersive, joyful, and supportive outdoor environment. Cost varies by course. Explore CBF's summer professional learning opportunities.
Nature Generation Seed Grant
Could you use a mini grant of up to $1,000 to support an environmental project? NatGen STEM Seed Grants are mini grants that can be used to fund small-scale, start-up or ongoing environmental education projects. The spring submission period is open through March 31, 2026. Learn more about the Nature Generation Seed Grant and submit your application.
Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program
The Voya Unsung Heroes Awards program awards up to $25,000 to K-12 education professionals for effective and innovative class projects that improve student learning. Apply by April 17, 2026. Visit Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program to learn more and apply. Check with the FCPS Grants Development Office at Grants.Office@fcps.edu if applying for a grant of $5,000 or more.
Coast of Maine Growing Good Program
Looking for some soil for your spring garden? Coast of Maine donates some of its garden products to schools each year through their Growing Good Program. Schools can learn more and request a donation through the Growing Good Program. Upon approval, Coast of Maine will collaborate with a local Coast of Maine retailer to set aside up to 10 cubic feet of soil for your garden. Find the retailer closest to you on Coast of Maine’s map. Requests are accepted on a rolling basis.
NVSWCD Conservation Poster Contest
Calling all student artists! The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District is seeking students to design posters for the 2026 Youth Poster Contest. The theme for this year is ‘Soil. Where It All Begins.” This contest is open to all K-12 students in Fairfax County, and scouts are eligible to earn the VASWCD Poster Contest Patch. Students may enter hand-drawn, digital, braille, and additional assistance categories. Entries are due June 30, 2026. Learn more about the poster contest categories and guidelines and download your entry form here.
What to Plant in March
Baseball fans and gardeners have at least one thing in common. They eagerly await the beginning of spring. This year, baseball season begins with a special game on March 25. While gardeners don’t have an official opening day, they too can kick off the 2026 gardening season in March, well before the average last frost in northern Virginia. Two of the earliest crops to consider planting in school gardens in March are potatoes and peas.
Potatoes are an easy and fun cool-weather crop to plant and harvest. They can be planted once the soil has dried out a bit and day-time soil temperatures have reached at least 55 °F. This makes them a good choice to plant early and harvest before the end of the school year. Another advantage to planting potatoes at school is that they can be planted in beds, buckets, and grow bags. Planting potatoes in containers leaves lots of space for later planting of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and spinach in raised beds.
Early potato varieties that do well in our zone are the red-skinned Red Norland, white-skinned Kennebec, and buttery, yellow-fleshed Yukon Gold. Purchase certified seed potatoes that have been inspected for diseases. Stay away from grocery store potatoes as most have been treated with a sprout inhibitor. Check Fairfax Gardening's Potato page for more on growing potatoes.
Peas thrive in the cool weather of early spring. A popular tradition is planting peas on St. Patrick’s Day though a more reliable phenological sign is to plant when forsythia blooms, indicating that the soil is warm enough to plant. However, be sure the soil is not too wet and that your peas receive at least 6 hours of full sun each day.
There are lots of varieties of peas including sweet peas, snow peas, and snap peas. Vining peas, like the popular ‘Sugar Snap” variety, are known as indeterminate and can grow to 8 feet. These will require a trellis for support. If you don’t have the space, you can opt for bush and dwarf varieties like ‘Tom Thumb’, ‘Sugar Ann’, and ‘Oregon Sugar Pod ll’, which do well in containers and are long producing. When planting peas, try adding companions like chives, carrots, or radishes, which can also be planted in early spring.
 Above Left: Students at Terra Centre Elementary swept up excess salt on the school’s campus after the snow days. They collected 73.8 pounds of salt which was diverted from our local creeks and streams! The hope is that the salt can be re-used for future salting needs–conserving money and the environment.
Right: Mount Eagle AAP held an assembly for K-3 students with a visit from an owl through the Secret Garden Birds and Bees, a non-profit organization that supports conservation and educational outreach. The Green Team stayed after for a Q & A session.
Find fun and exciting Get2Green updates all month by following @fcpsGet2Green on Instagram, Threads, and X.
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