{"id":15536,"date":"2026-11-12T09:29:53","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T14:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=15536"},"modified":"2026-11-12T09:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T14:29:53","slug":"from-flex-farm-to-fork-arrowhead-elementary-grows-its-own-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/from-flex-farm-to-fork-arrowhead-elementary-grows-its-own-greens\/","title":{"rendered":"From Flex Farm to fork: Arrowhead Elementary grows its own greens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Vanessa Evans, cafeteria manager at Arrowhead Elementary, enjoys some greens from the school\u2019s hydroponic growing system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fifth grader Finley Hicks transplants seedlings to the Flex Farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arrowhead Elementary students and staff are proud to celebrate a big milestone: their Fork Farms Flex Farm had its first successful harvest.<\/p>\n

To mark the occasion, the school and PTA treated staff to fresh salads made with greens picked right from their own hydroponic growing system, or Flex Farm.<\/p>\n

\u201c It doesn’t get much fresher than that, and it was a delicious reminder of what our students and community can grow together,\u201d said kindergarten teacher Shannan Haas Rehpelz, who\u2019s spearheading the effort. \u201cThank you to the PTA and administration for providing the salad toppings and making this celebration extra special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fork Farms<\/a> is the company that makes the Flex Farms, which allow edible plants to grow indoors from seeds or seedlings to edible greens. Rehpelz thanks the VBCPS Office of Food Services and the Virginia Beach Education Foundation<\/a> for funding the school\u2019s two Flex Farms making the farm-to-table initiative a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour support is helping our students learn where their food comes from, build healthy habits, and see what’s possible when a community works together,\u201d Rehpelz said.<\/p>\n

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Harvest time at Arrowhead Elementary\u2019s Flex Farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most important mission of the division\u2019s VBScratch initiative is for students to understand where their food comes from and why nutrition is so important, said Chef Rachel Amato, director of the Office of Food Services.<\/p>\n

\u201c We work to engage students in nutrition education, so they have lifelong healthy eating habits,\u201d Amato said, \u201cand staff can be creative with the highest quality and freshest ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Operating a Flex Farm requires some trial and error, said gifted resource teacher Claudia Wetmore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to test the water for dissolved solids, and make sure the pH level was right,\u201d said Wetmore, adding that eventually students will be in charge of running the Flex Farms. The school\u2019s Sustainability Club already helps maintain an outdoor chicken coop, garden and mulching operation.<\/p>\n

Rehpelz said the school may sell the greens at family events, to pay for supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want everything to be sustainable,\u201d she said. Everything about the garden ties into Standards of Learning standards for all grades: plant lifecycles, renewable resources, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are mesmerized by it,\u201d Rehpelz said. \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect thing to tie together everything we want to do here. Kids can see where food comes from, and that healthy eating can be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Romaine lettuce growing in the Flex Farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Flex Farm\u2019s first harvest was rushed a bit by a power outage, so the school created the impromptu salad bar event for staff.<\/p>\n

The best part?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not done yet! Next stop: the cafeteria.\u00a0 Soon students will get to taste the fruits (and veggies!) of this amazing project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can’t wait to see their smiles with every crunchy bite,\u201d said Macy Botelho, the school\u2019s instructional technology specialist.<\/p>\n

This project brings learning to life in a powerful way, said principal Dr. Michala Sumnick Virgili.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing from a long line of farmers, I especially value the opportunity for our students to understand where their food comes from and the care it takes to grow it,\u201d she said. \u201cOur Flex Farms help students build healthy habits, explore science and sustainability, and connect with one another and our wider Arrowhead community. In a world full of processed foods, it is rewarding to see the excitement of Arrowhead students as our food grows right before our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to help?<\/em><\/strong> Arrowhead Elementary is looking for volunteers and donated supplies for its Flex Farm, garden and other sustainability projects. For more information, contact teacher Shannan Haas Rehpelz at <\/em>Shannan.HaasRehpelz@vbschools.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>
The staff salad event at Arrowhead Elementary included eggs produced by chickens that were hatched in a kindergarten classroom two years ago.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The school\u2019s principal, Dr. Michala Sumnick Virgili, and other staff members help prepare the meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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And it\u2019s time to eat! There\u2019s quite a spread on this salad bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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PTA President Maggie Williams and kindergarten teacher Shannan Haas Rehpelz serve up salad for staff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arrowhead Elementary students and staff are proud to celebrate a big milestone: their Fork Farms Flex Farm had its first successful harvest. To mark the occasion, the school and PTA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15536"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15560,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15536\/revisions\/15560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}