The Grin & Grow Learning Garden at Riverview Farm Park in Newport News is an educator’s dream for teaching students about indigenous plants and their roles in the Virginia ecosystem. Co-chair Janet Rash says the local schools, as well as the families who regularly visit the adjacent park, share a special relationship with the garden.
“When it was built in 2002, it was dedicated to future generations of children,” Rash says. “We’re actually across the street from Menchville High School, and when we put in a native tree garden in 2018, we had a lot of help from students and teachers.”
The garden, operated by the Master Gardeners of Newport News, has always emphasized its dedication to helping families and children understand and enjoy the rich and diverse plant life that allows their local ecosystem to thrive.
Grin & Grow has evolved greatly since Rash, a Newport News native, joined the leadership team in 2012. When she stepped into her role as co-chair, she decided the best course of action for modernizing the garden was to do a complete overhaul. “I presented to the organization a three-year plan to completely redesign,” she says. “That meant ripping out every single plant and every single bed and starting from scratch. It was a huge endeavor.”…