Retired Nurse Earns Agriculture’s First College Certificate Following a New Path

After 30 years as a registered nurse, Janice Brooks leaned into something entirely new and earned the first certificate in horticulture at the University of the Virgin Islands last spring.

Beginning in 2020, the School of Agriculture has offered five bachelor’s degrees, four associate degrees, and six certificates in various agriculture disciplines. Brooks completed the required 16 credits last May for her certificate. In December, two women earned associate degrees. Brooks credits the St. George Village Botanical Garden for sparking her interest in a new educational focus.

“My interest in medicinal plants began when I discovered the medicinal garden area at the Botanical Garden – all the varieties used by ancestors to maintain health,” she told The Source. A brochure from the Garden lists around 50 plants and herbs with healing qualities. Born on St. Thomas, Brooks remembers, as a young child, her great aunt, Edith L. Williams — the former principal at the James Madison School. Williams introduced students and parents to planting and agriculture in the school’s garden. Notably, she began the first school lunch program in the territory around 1925.