Alger named non-profit coordinator, unopposed for school bd

Taylor Alger in the community garden at PMH — Taylor Alger gathers some greens in PACA's community garden on the Page Memorial Hospital campus in Luray.

By Randy Arrington

LURAY — Taylor Alger believes the best way to help people is to roll up your sleeves and get involved.

“I want to keep an open mind and I want to learn,” she said. “How can you understand problems, if you aren’t in there helping…getting involved, and learning?”

Since moving back to her native Page County about two years ago, Alger has helped with an agricultural analysis of Page County, volunteered with the school system’s Porch Visits program, worked as the community garden coordinator for Page Alliance for Community Action, served as chairman of Luray Living Legacy, coordinated programs at the West Luray Rec Center, co-chaired a new non-profit council created by the Chamber of Commerce, received an appointment to fill the District 1 seat on the Page County School Board, and is now starting a new role as a coordinator of non-profit services across the county.

“Something that I am excited about is that we’re looking to work with the community more,” Alger said of her last eight months on the school board. “We’re looking for ways to heal relationships and build better partnerships.”

Building relationships across multiple organizations and agencies is what lead to Alger being named the new non-profit coordinator in the county. The position is currently being funded by PACA and donations, but Alger began planting seeds of future support on Monday night when she addressed the Luray Council.

“People say it takes a village, but it really takes weaving a village together,” she told the council. “I’ve already been building these relationships for several years…the idea is to bring more accountability to these organizations and identify gaps and where things can be made better, but also making sure people aren’t taking advantage of the system while also making sure people who need help are getting it.

“We are trying to identify areas of collaboration and find gaps in communication and bring more understanding of what each non-profit is doing,” she added.

The PACA funding will support the position for 10 hours a week through May 2024, but both PACA and Alger are hoping that local funding can help ensure that this position continues and potentially grows in the years ahead.

“We’re focusing on a hand up and not a hand out…this position will streamline our efforts so that we can help more people,” Luray Police Chief C.S. “Bow” Cook said during Monday night’s presentation. Chief Cook has been in conversations with the school system, the non-profit council and several other agencies about forming such a position to coordinate efforts for those in need.

“This will unify the entire process,” Chief Cook added, “and it will be a big benefit to law enforcement.”

Alger is expected to make a few more presentations across the county building support for the concept, with her next stop being with the Page County Board of Supervisors. The new position will also track services and recipients to prevent overlap.

Alger was appointed to the school board in October to fill the vacancy left by the death of Tommy Lansberry. The special election being held this November for the District 1 seat is to fill the remainder of Lansberry’s unexpired, four-year term, which runs through Dec. 31, 2025.

“Taylor is well known for her efforts in the community, especially through the Rec Center. She brings with her experiences in helping families through trauma and recovery, as well as in the area of agriculture,” school board chair Megan Gordon stated in a press release following Alger’s appointment.

While running unopposed for the District 1 seat, Alger is excited to continue serving on the school board and wants to do everything possible to help teachers in the classroom.

“I would like to improve how we address behaviors we are seeing all across the board…even at the elementary level,” she said. “We have to redefine discipline. There’s no rehabilitation or learning. Behavior is a symptom, and we need to redefine discipline in actions…find ways to communicate with kids and change their behavior.”

Alger grew up on a 140-acre farm near Rileyville (between Compton and Overall), where her family “relocated” after leaving the Blue Ridge mountains to make way for the Shenandoah National Park. The beef cattle farm instilled a deep appreciation for agriculture, something she wants to bring more to the classroom in a county where farming is the No. 1 industry.

Graduating from Luray High School in 2011, Alger went on to earn a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from Virginia Tech a semester early in December 2014. After a brief stint working as a customer service rep with Blue Cross and Blue Shield in West Virginia, Alger felt she needed a more “hands-on” way to help people’s well-being and trained in massage and body work while working at a healing arts salon in Harrisonburg. She then spent several years substitute teaching in Page County, while also working with at-risk students through Crossroads Counseling, both in the office and in the schools. It was during this time of teaching and mentoring that Alger truly saw the need that existed in Page County.

“Addiction is rampant, which means that kids are [not being raised by their parents]…and sometimes the people raising them can’t meet all their needs,” Alger said. “Then you add in the effects of COVID [the pandemic, remote learning, etc.] on top of everything else…most of the kids in high school basically missed the middle school years, which is key to development, academically and socially.”

The active volunteer also holds a certification as a trauma practitioner and has provided mental, behavioral, social and emotional therapeutic services to youth and parents. She believes that the chaos in education over the last few years and the growing needs of students outside the classroom has heightened the behavioral problems educators are facing.

“It’s creating quadruple the workload for educators…it’s almost like triage dealing with all these issues,” Alger said. “Teachers are providing food…we have teachers and principals who are washing clothes for students. The problem is, how do we address it? We need to bring in more resources, more training in de-escalating situations, and how to deal with burnout, because they are not just teachers…they are counselors, janitors and everything else.”

Her desire to work with kids, her desire to improve the well-being of her community, and her desire to teach sustainable agriculture have all come together in Alger’s recent endeavors. She manages PACA’s three community gardens, which produced more than 1,600 pounds of fresh produce distributed to individuals and in the schools. She also uses the sites as an educational tool for local youth and adults alike. Alger not only grew up on a farm, but also learned about land-based living (homesteading) and other agricultural concepts while living and working on several non-profit farms in Colorado. She holds a certification in permaculture design (fitting agricultural production to the land) and served as the Educational Director for the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute and the Educational Lead for the Fat City Farmers.

Alger likes the idea of tying together gardening with counseling.

“That’s why I like the gardens…because it teaches [the kids] discipline without demoralizing their spirit,” she said. “It also gives an opportunity to be with them while they are working, providing teachable moments.”

Although it did not originate there, the concept for a non-profit coordinator grew out of the few meetings the new non-profit council has held since its formation in September to better coordinate charitable efforts in Page County. That idea got legs during the recent “community meetings” that school officials have been coordinating with other local leaders. Those meetings began as a way to better work with law enforcement over issues of school safety, but has now grown into a wider base of support services and community outreach that can better students’ lives outside the classroom.

Like many, Alger wants more for the students in Page County — specifically, more opportunities and more options. She wants to see more “soft skills” taught like personal finance, life skills and self-sufficiency. She wants to see more partnerships with local professionals to provide job shadowing and internships, and expose students to more offerings at the Page County Tech Center and Laurel Ridge Community College. She would like to see something as simple as more school clubs to spur wider interests.

But above all the opportunities, she wants even more to deter the detractors that often stand in the way of success.

“We are asking a lot out of our teachers, and it’s time the community steps up to help build an environment where we can see greater student success…and right now addiction is taking its toll, not only on the people who are addicted, but those around them as well,” Alger said. “Hopefully, we can find a way to stop generational cycles we have in Page County.”

For more information about Page County Public Schools,

visit https://www.pagecounty.k12.va.us/o/pcps

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