Westlawn is recognized as a Year 1 Virginia Naturally school during the 2023-2024 school year. This distinction is in recognition of the work done by staff in increasing the environmental literacy of the Commonwealth’s youngest citizens. While all Westlawn staff help shape students’ environmental literacy, the team of Gretchen Maxwell, Meghan Winters, Carol Hunt, Whitney Cochran, and Kristen Burke were instrumental in shepherding Westlawn’s nomination. Their “green thumbs” can also be seen all over our campus, from the trees on the playground to the abundant garden in the Discovery Area.

As a Year 1 school, we have the honor of displaying the Year 1 badge featuring the peregrine falcon. Below is information about the peregrine falcon that was shared by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Westlawn will also be receiving a wooden plaque. Stay tuned to our social media channels on Facebook and on Instagram for photos of the plaque when it arrives.

About the peregrine falcon:

“The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) has long captured our imagination as a hunter of the skies, capturing its avian prey in a thrilling dive (called stooping) at speeds of up to 200 mph. Peregrines are widely recognized and appreciated thanks to media coverage of urban nesting pairs in some of North America’s major metropolitan centers, including Richmond.

“Although never occurring in large numbers, the American peregrine falcon was once found throughout the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. After World War II, the widespread use of pesticides such as DDT, in conjunction with human disturbance, contributed to abrupt and widespread declines of falcon populations. DDT caused the bioaccumulation of toxins in prey species, in turn contaminating the falcons and reducing the survival rate of their eggs; most birds of prey were similarly affected by DDT. The American peregrine falcon subspecies were listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1970 and DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972.

“Through efforts under the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Plan, the American peregrine recovered sufficiently throughout the United States to be removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999. However, peregrine falcons have not recovered as a nesting population in their historic mountain range within Virginia, so they remain listed as a Threatened Species under Virginia’s Endangered Species Act and a Tier I species of Critical Conservation Need in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and their partners continue to work to restore peregrines to the Appalachian Mountains. To learn more about the peregrine falcon, please visit DWR’s peregrine falcon webpage and peregrine falcon cam.”