Like many high school students, Kellam High School senior Parker Lineberry was unsure of what his future could hold after graduation. However, his time at the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) has not only opened his eyes to the vast amount of professional opportunities that suit his passions, but has prepared him to make an immediate impact in whatever field he chooses to pursue.
In Virginia Beach City Public Schools, high school juniors and seniors can pursue their interests in environmental science and sustainability at the Brock Environmental Center on the shores of the Lynnhaven Inlet. The Brock Center was built as the headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in 2014, with the ESP founded there in the fall of 2020. The program functions similarly to those of the Governor’s School of the Arts or the Advanced Technology Center, where students spend part of their school day taking classes at their home school and then travel to their program for the other half of the day.
This unique program pairs several advanced-level environmental science and sustainability courses with experiential and hands-on learning experiences, while “broaden[ing] student knowledge of local and global issues pertaining to sustainability,” its website describes.
During their senior year at the ESP, students are connected to an internship opportunity that allows them to conduct passion-based, real-world research that prepares them for college and professional work settings through a lens of science and sustainability. Some groups ESP seniors are interning with this year include the Norfolk Zoo, the Virginia Aquarium, WPL Landscape Architecture, and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
Lineberry is currently interning with Virginia Tech’s Conservation Management Institute tracking invasive nutria rats. He explains that he chose the program for opportunities like this, which will better prepare him for a broad spectrum of hands-on career paths in the future. “[While] here at ESP, I have been able to use our local watersheds to [better] my knowledge and have a meaningful classroom experience outside of the normal classroom,” Lineberry says. “I am able to experience more avenues relating to my future plans in these upcoming years, which will [include] some of the most important decisions of my life.”
ESP Coordinator Christopher Freeman explains the program is much different from the conventional learning style of school. “Expect the unexpected, [don’t] think about a traditional school setting, think beyond four walls [and] get outside in the community to learn by doing.”
Freeman elaborates that students entering the program should expect a specifically tailored education where individual passions can take the reins. “We do a lot of hands-on work and lean on their curiosity and what their interests are to drive our curriculum. So we utilize students’ passions to connect with what we do outdoors so that students get a better understanding of not only job opportunities, but what can be fulfilling in the outdoors around them and in the community to foster the fire inside of them.”
Zach Jao, another Kellam senior in the ESP, is interested in wildlife photography and visual storytelling and explains the program also creates a strong sense of community and builds lasting relationships. “I love the Environmental Studies Program for how easily memories can be made within it,” says Jao. “Whether that would be coming across a beached whale, finding a terrapin mother, or sharing a song, [there’s] no doubt that it helps build a sense of community and belonging within the classroom.”
According to a study conducted by ESP seniors, Virginia Beach is the 10th most at-risk major city in the country to the impacts of climate change. A secondary research project conducted by Environmental Studies Program students found that Virginia Beach is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate-induced flooding. Over the next 30 years, it is expected that 43% of properties in Virginia Beach will have a 26% greater chance of being severely affected by flooding. The Environmental Studies Program is constantly working to empower young minds to look out for their own future by prioritizing passions that use science and sustainability to create solutions to some of our world’s greatest issues.
