VSU conference aims to teach veterans how to become farmers

By The Associated Press
February 18, 2020 | 4:03 AM

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (AP) — Virginia State University is sponsoring a two-day conference designed to help military veterans who are starting new careers as farmers.

The university’s Small Farm Outreach Program is teaming up with the Farmer Veteran Coalition to host “Boots to Roots” March 17-18.

VSU said in a news release that the conference is aimed at teaching veterans who are new or beginning farmers about resources and grant opportunities through the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The conference will also focus on how to create effective business plans and develop successful farm production practices.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

By Heather Gustafson
August 21, 2026 | 10:05 PM

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.

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