From left, Taylor Jenkins, Elijah Halterman, Peyton Broughman and Ezekiel Saville stand near a community garden they helped create at Sharon Elementary School. The project, part of a national student leadership program, gives young students a place to learn about gardening, nature and the value of working together. Not pictured: Joowon Chung. (AHPS Photo)

AHS Students Plant Seeds for the Future at Sharon   Low Moor, VA (Aug. 11, 2026) - A group of Alleghany High School students is helping create a lasting connection between younger students and the outdoors through a community garden project at Sharon Elementary School. The project was completed this summer by five students selected for the Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness program, a national initiative that helps students develop leadership skills through projects that benefit their communities. Four members of the team graduated from Alleghany High School in May 2026, while senior Elijah Halterman will continue the work during his final year at AHS. Although the Carnegie project has ended, Halterman hopes to keep the garden initiative growing through local partnerships, including 4-H, outside of the Carnegie program. The team included Peyton Broughman, Joowon Chung, Taylor Jenkins, Ezekiel Saville and Halterman. Chung was valedictorian of the Alleghany High School Class of 2026, while Saville was salutatorian. Following graduation, Chung and her family relocated to the Harrisonburg area. The Alleghany team was selected in 2025 as one of 100 teams nationwide to participate in the Carnegie program. More than 1,000 teams applied for the opportunity, with students selected based on their project ideas and leadership skills. Ginni Phillips, the Alleghany Highlands Advancement coordinator for Alleghany Highlands Public Schools, was instrumental in helping the students gain acceptance into the Carnegie program and coached them throughout the year as they developed and carried out their project. Her guidance helped the students navigate the program while turning their ideas for community service into a project that could have a lasting impact on younger students.  “I had the pleasure of working with our Carnegie team over the past year, from developing their project, ‘Fostering Environmental Responsibility in the Next Generation,’ to watching their vision become a reality,” Phillips said. “I am incredibly proud of their dedication and leadership as they balanced meetings, deadlines, proposals, and reports while working together to bring this project to completion. It has been rewarding to work with Peyton, Taylor, Zeek, Elijah and Joowon, and see the positive impact they have made on our elementary school students.” Led by Broughman, who served as team leader, the students chose to create an outdoor learning space at Sharon Elementary where children can learn about gardening, nature and the value of working together. “We wanted to bridge community service with youth involvement,” Broughman said.  The students saw an opportunity to create a project that would give children a break from technology, encourage them to spend more time outdoors and connect with nature while learning the value of working together. They hope the garden will become a lasting part of the Sharon Elementary experience. That vision extends beyond the students who created it. Sharon Elementary Principal Chris Jones said the garden will give students an opportunity to learn, explore and make connections beyond the traditional classroom. “What these students have created is something our children can experience, enjoy and learn from for years to come,” Jones said. “They didn’t just build a garden; they created an opportunity for our students to slow down, get outside and discover something new. We’re grateful for the time and thought they put into making this a meaningful part of our school.” The students spent the past year turning that vision into reality, planning the project, preparing a garden area and planting wildflowers before the start of the school year. Community mentor Christine Hodges, a 4-H Extension agent, helped guide the students as they worked to develop the project. “She's huge when it comes to doing things like this,” Broughman said.  “She helped us with her after-school activities and a snack with the kids and she was a huge helping hand with that.  She's given me a lot of mentorship when it comes to what you do with kids and youth because she's been around youth for many years.” For Saville, the project also carried a personal connection. He grew up spending summers working in a family garden with his grandfather. “My family had a garden when I was growing up, and that’s how I spent a lot of my summers, out there with my granddad,” Saville said. “It kept me busy, but it also kept me outside. That’s one of the main goals we were looking for with this project, keeping kids outside and giving them something they can enjoy and learn from.” Jenkins said the garden can give children an opportunity to discover the outdoors at a time when much of their free time can be spent in front of screens. “I think about kids growing up in a world where, a lot of the time, they’re playing video games or sitting and watching TV,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s important to remind kids that there are so many cool and fun things you can do outside, and there are things you can see and experience outside that you’re never going to see sitting in front of a screen. There’s more to do than play video games all day.” While the project was rooted in the local community, the Carnegie program also gave the students a broader perspective on the impact of their work. Broughman had the opportunity to meet student leaders from across the country during a Carnegie leadership training session at Princeton University in July 2025. “It was a really eye-opening experience,” Broughman said. “When I told people we were from a small town in southern Virginia and talked about our environment and community, they were really interested. It showed me that the work we’re doing here matters, too.” That experience reinforced the students’ belief that meaningful community projects do not have to begin in large cities or major organizations. They can start with students identifying a need in their own schools and communities and taking the initiative to address it. The students now hope the garden project will continue beyond the end of the Carnegie program. Halterman plans to work with community partners, including 4-H, to explore ways to expand the project to other schools. “This year I want to try to continue it with a lot of help from 4-H.  It's very ambitious.  If possible, I might try to expand it to a different school, one of the other elementary schools,” Halterman said. For the five students, the garden represents more than the completion of a service project. It is something they hope will remain useful to Sharon Elementary students long after the original team members have moved on. Broughman and Saville will attend Virginia Tech, Jenkins will attend Radford University and Chung will attend Duke University. Halterman will continue his senior year at AHS. The Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness program gives students across the country opportunities to strengthen leadership skills through hands-on service projects. For the AHS students, the experience provided an opportunity to turn leadership training into a project that brings students together, encourages outdoor learning and strengthens connections within their community.

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