(L to R) Marty Wood, Assistant Principal for CMS; Allen Dressler, Covington City Manager; Dr. Brett Milliken, Professor of Agriculture and Extension Education at VT; Dr. Hannah Scherer, Associate Professor of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education; Jimmy Hogendobler, co-owner of Wiley's Garden Center; and Kayla Harris, grad student of agriculture and extension education at VT.

Virginia Tech Partners with AHPS to Launch STEM Program at Wiley's Garden Center By Jennifer Bailey Staff Writer   Covington, VA (June 13, 2025)— An exciting collaboration has occurred in the Alleghany Highlands which will soon build a bridge between education and agriculture. The Journal has learned that Virginia Tech has partnered with Alleghany Highlands Public Schools (AHPS) in order to launch an innovative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) agriculture program which will be taught to students at both Covington Middle School (CMS) and Alleghany High School (AHS) at Wiley's Garden Center. The initiative aims to ignite curiosity among middle schoolers and high schoolers alike which will foster hands-on learning experiences by incorporating STEM with practical agricultural experiences. By providing students with the opportunity to engage directly with sustainable plants, the program not only cultivates a deeper understanding of agriculture but also inspires the next generation of farmers. This morning, the Journal met up with several key players in the project on site at Wiley's Garden Center: Allen Dressler, Covington City Manager; Marty Wood, Assistant Principal for CMS; Dr. Brett Milliken, Professor of Agriculture and Extension Education at Virginia Tech (VT); Dr. Hannah Scherer, Associate Professor of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education at VT; Jimmy Hogendobler, co-owner of Wiley's Garden Center; and Kayla Harris, a grad student majoring in Agriculture and Extension Education at VT. "This is an exciting day in the Alleghany Highlands," Dressler said. "Some time ago, I approached [Covington] City Council about the vision of working with VT-ARC [Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation] and Virginia Tech in creating a STEM Program with our local schools." The program will allow easy access to CMS students especially, who will merely walk across the street to Wiley's Garden Center. "We're going to be developing new lessons, new hands-on activities in horticulture, hydroponics, and trying to get the kids excited about all the things that Allen was just talking about," Dr. Scherer stated, noting that she and her colleagues would also be touring the schools to get an idea about the classroom sizes and what would work best moving forward. The program is set to begin in the upcoming school year.

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