A new program recently launched by RISE Challenge winner Wetlands Watch and partners is offering high school students a glimpse into the world of Chesapeake-Bay-friendly landscape practices — and potentially a leg up into a future job or career.

The Norfolk-based nonprofit is partnering with Portsmouth, Virginia public schools to integrate an entry-level sustainable landscapes training and credentialing administered by the Chesapeake Conservation Landscape Council into Churchland High School’s existing class on horticulture science.

It’s an extension of the Chesapeake Bay Landscaping Professional (CBLP) program, which launched in 2016 as part of a consortium-led effort to promote sustainable landscaping skills and green infrastructure practices among professionals working in the Bay’s watershed. Wetlands Watch was awarded a grant from RISE to build a resilient workforce by expanding the CBLP through this youth-focused training and career development program.

Shereen Hughes, assistant director of Wetlands Watch and coordinator of the CBLP program in Virginia, said RISE funding has helped offset the cost of piloting the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional-Associate (CBLP-A) program for high school students in Hampton Roads and helps remove financial barriers that might discourage participation. The nonprofit established a cost-share and training agreement arrangement with recent partnering organizations such as the Elizabeth River Project, which hosted CBLP-A interns at its Paradise Creek Nature Park this past summer, as well as Portsmouth Public Schools, covering half of both the $3,500 partner initiation fee and the students’ $50 registration fees, which are paid to the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council. During the pilot, the program delivery is adapted to support partner programs and CBLP expert trainers and program developers, such as Hughes and David Hirschman of Hirschman Water and Environment, LLC, train and mentor CBLP-A partner instructors to deliver the program independently over time.

“We loved the idea of getting the CBLP-A program into the school system because then it’s just really equitable,” Hughes said. “Any student can go through it and the school is covering the (other half of the) registration fee.”

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