Dear VAMS Community,
We have some exciting news to share! Earlier this year, the VAMS Governance Council (GC) created an Outdoor Learning Space Committee made up of GC members, Parent Group members, and community members. We met with teachers and administrative staff multiple times to gain input, collaborate on implementation ideas, and prioritize focus areas.

We also wrote grant applications and made funding proposals to financially support the work of the committee. In addition, Viroqua Area Schools (VAS) applied for multiple grants to support outdoor learning and agricultural education. As part of this combined work, our district was awarded a $50,000 grant from Compeer Financial’s Rural Collaboration Project, in conjunction with the Viroqua Area Foundation. Funds from this grant will partially support the Outdoor Learning Spaces at VES, VMS/VHS, and the ELC, as well as other agricultural education opportunities on all our VAS campuses for all of our students. We also raised additional funding from Driftless Region Power of 100, in addition to private donations to support the Outdoor Learning work.

This funding will allow us to bring a major initiative to life: the Outdoor Learning Space (OLS) project, which will create hands-on outdoor learning environments across our VAS campuses, benefiting not just VAMS, but students throughout the district. Over the coming months, you will begin to see our school grounds transformed: raised garden beds for student-tended gardens, rain barrel systems for water stewardship, natural woodland play areas, trails for easier access to the woods, native plantings, outdoor gathering spaces, and more. While these spaces are rooted in Montessori pedagogy, they will be a lasting resource for every student, teacher, and family across our VAS district.

We need your help to make it happen, and are excited to invite you to be a part of it! Please join us for the first big community push: clean up the Big Woods, build raised garden beds, and assemble lattice screens for outdoor classroom space.

The VAMS Outdoor Learning Build Day will be on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 8am to 12pm. We will meet at Viroqua Elementary School playground / basketball court area. Parking will be available at the school and near the pole shed and Better Futures High School.

SIGN UP TO HELP BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK!

This is more than a work day. It is a community building event, a chance for our VAMS families and students to come together and put Montessori principles directly into action to build something greater for all of Viroqua Areas Schools. When students help build and care for the spaces they will learn in, they develop real ownership and investment in those spaces. This is Montessori at its best: learning by doing, together as a community.

We are aiming for at least 30 adults, plus as many children as are able to come with their families. With a full crew, we expect to make fast work of the day. We are planning for 2-hour shifts, so no one needs to commit more than 2 to 4 hours. Come for the whole morning or just part of it!

Our signup sheet is linked above. We can use helpers of all kinds and abilities, and families are welcome and encouraged. We hope to have a few MS/HS students help keep an eye on younger kids at the playground while parents and older students work nearby. Please give of your time and talents as you are able, and thank you for supporting our community!

In addition to this work day, we are also looking for 2 to 8 boulders or large rocks (approximately 48 in diameter) to add to our outdoor play areas, and clean fill dirt for our new raised garden beds. If you have boulders or clean fill dirt that you are willing to donate, please email jarjim@viroquablackhawk.org and let him know. Thank you!

We will also have more information available at the VAMS End of Year Picnic on June 4th at Sidie Hollow. If you have additional questions before then, you can reach out to Jim at jarjim@viroquablackhawk.org.

Thanks also to those who have already shared their resources and support, including our VAS administration, VAS staff and volunteers, community supporters and donors, and Compeer Financial's Rural Collaboration Project in conjunction with the Viroqua Area Foundation. We will host a special event to celebrate the spaces and appropriately recognize all of our donors this fall. Please stay tuned!

Sincerely,
VAMS Governance Council
and VAS District Administration

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