Virginia School District Teacher Earns State Recognition

Posted on 25. Jan, 2011 by jfoster in Uncategorized

Roosevelt Elementary School teacher, Chris Holmes, recently was awarded the 2010 Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Teacher Award.  This statewide award was presented recently at the 74^th annual MASWCD convention in St. Paul.

Holmes, a 5^th grade teacher, is very involved in the Virginia School Forest, located on 120 acres north of the Laurentian Divide.  Students in grades 2-5 use the forest regularly during the school year to study topics in outdoor education.  The North St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District nominated Holmes for the award.

 This is the third major award earned by Virginia School District educators or programs over the last few months.  Last spring, Virginia High School teacher Jeanette Johnson was awarded a Minnesota Service Learning Award by the Minnesota Department of Education.  This fall the Indian Education program of the Virginia School District earned national recognition with a Johnson-O’Malley Award for an exemplary program followed by the honors earned by Chris Holmes.

 Mr. Holmes credits his fellow teachers and school staff as well as volunteers and those who make donations to the school forest as the reason for the award.