Education committee approves minutes, hears program updates on greenhouses, pavilion and school visits

The education committee of the Virginia Museum of Natural History board of trustees met virtually to approve a backlog of meeting minutes and hear quarterly updates on education programming, partnerships and exhibit changes.

Nathan Sanford, who identified himself as chair of the committee, moved to approve three sets of minutes covering meetings referenced on the agenda; the motion was seconded and the committee approved the minutes by voice. Committee members then reviewed program metrics and several ongoing initiatives.

Staff reported that summer activities and the museum's Dino Festival drew strong attendance, noting a collaboration with paleontology staff including Dr. Pritchard that let visitors view fossils under student stereoscopes. The museum hosted its annual visit from every fifth‑grade class in Danville City — about 400 students over two weeks — with visits combining exhibit tours and hands‑on STEM activities such as microscope lab work and simple engineering projects.

Jordan Grama, an educator in the museum's education department, described a new greenhouse initiative funded by a grant that provided three greenhouses. The greenhouses have been used in summer camps and a homeschool science and engineering academy, where students grew lettuce and learned greenhouse basics; staff plan to shift to experiments in January and to collaborate with the Virginia Master Naturalist program and local landscaping partner Raywood Landscaping.

Annabelle Secreast, a member of the education team, reported on the newly opened Jean S. Adams Education Pavilion and a program she calls 'Early Birds.' The activity guides students through the evolutionary timeline between theropod dinosaurs, Archaeopteryx and modern birds using skeleton puzzles and a Pelagornis wingspan exercise designed to make scale and anatomy tangible for school groups.

Staff highlighted continuing professional development: Secreast completed a 32‑hour National Association for Interpretation certificate in interpretive guiding and said she gained storytelling techniques she plans to implement in museum programs. The committee also noted exhibit upgrades in the 'Uncovering Virginia' Carmel Church Quarry section, where a replaced display now shows a scrolling video and an identification guide intended to better connect gallery content to the Eobelanoptera skeleton and the paleontology lab windows.

On funding, the museum reported multiple grant awards that support scholarships and festival programming and said a $10,000 proposal was submitted to the Monogram Foods Loves Kids Foundation to support scholarships and future science festival activities. The committee noted that some schools rely on those scholarships to participate in museum programming.

Nathan Sanford summarized the meeting's outcome as clearing the backlog of minutes and capturing program highlights for the full board report. The committee concluded with thanks to staff and presenters and closed without additional formal actions.