Planting Seeds for Lifelong Learning at Oak Spring

A growing connection between Foxcroft School and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation traces back to the deeply rooted relationship between a teacher, who we know as our founder, Miss Charlotte, and her student, Miss Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, Class of 1929; both shared a love of gardens and the unique gifts nature provides.  

The natural world is a focal point in our biology and photography classrooms, and each year, we plan a unified lesson at the intersection of botany and environmental art at the Mellon estate in Upperville. We fulfilled this mission just last month when we engaged our students in using native flowers to create paints and dyes for hand tinting and toning images.

This field trip holds tremendous value for our students, especially in allowing them to work directly with the scientific concepts they learn in class to create works of art. 

Mimi K. ’27 highlights her experience in using natural elements to produce art-making materials. “I really enjoyed taking apart flowers and grinding them and boiling them and watching the process as we created dye from nature. It was really cool to see that start to finish.” 

The importance of hands-on learning in knowledge acquisition is recognized by Harper P. ’27 in her reflections. “I loved our trip to Oak Springs as it was interactive and engaging. I had no idea watercolor could be derived from plants, and it was very fun making it and testing it out ourselves. I learned lots by physically doing, rather than just learning from lectures, which was a very nice change of pace from the classroom.” 

Director of Foxcroft’s Audrey Bruce Currier Library Laura Ogelman was also grateful to take part in this experience. She reminds us of the value this holds in our curriculum as well as our continued partnership with this organization. “The collaboration with Oak Spring is a holistic, enriching, and enduring opportunity for the students (and faculty!) to connect with historic resources. This impressive community building nurtures multidisciplinary learning that plants seeds for lifelong learning. The students will likely make the connection later, if not already, that they learned about biodiversity and human use of native plants while visiting a historic site with deep connections to Foxcroft. Foxcroft exists within communities, and Ms. Fisher and Dr. Tuttle leverage this connectivity with exciting demonstrations of the importance and uses of vegetation. The enthusiasm that Oak Spring hosts share with the students is also another opportunity to engage with community adults and role models. I observed much collaboration among all the students, especially while dying the photograph copies. Working in a large group, I saw that the students helped, supported, advised, recommended, cheered, consoled, listened, and laughed together.”

In keeping with Miss Charlotte and Bunny Mellon’s enduring relationship, we, too, look forward to many future years of fruitful interdisciplinary and community-focused collaborations between Foxcroft and Oak Spring. 

From Julie Fisher, Director of STEAM Education and Fine Arts Department Chair in partnership with Meghen Tuttle, PhD; STEAM Faculty and Lead Concentration Mentor