Meet Kellie McCants

Kellie was born in Maryland and her family relocated to Arkansas when she was 2 years old. The family moved to Virginia Beach when she was 7 and then to Norfolk when she was 15.

Kellie graduated from Maury High School and Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York. After attending college in New York City she stayed in New York for fifteen years, after which she decided to move back to Norfolk.

Kellie was drawn to the Norfolk Master Gardener program when she met Jammica Boone, Jay Boone,  and Will Redfern during the Virginia State University’s Sustainable Urban Agriculture Certificate Program in 2025. She had missed the orientations for the Master Gardener Class of 2025. To fulfill part of the 80 hours required for the VSU program, Will helped her to connect with the Master Gardeners at the Heutte Center Square Foot Garden  and Gill Gillespie at the East Ocean View Children’s Garden. She is grateful for the opportunity to have worked  and learned from Gill. In addition to wanting to cultivate in-depth gardening knowledge, she enjoyed getting to know Norfolk Master Gardeners and working on the projects before actually taking the classes.

Kellie enjoyed the classes, especially when an instructor was passionate and engaging on a topic. She especially liked the classes that were held with the Virginia Beach Master Gardeners and Portsmouth Master Gardeners.

To attain the required fifty hours, Kellie worked at the East Ocean View Children’s Garden, the Fred Heutte Square Foot Garden, Zoo Garden, Significant Tree Program, Potager Garden, Urban Ag visits, Teens with a Purpose FUSE Fest, Party for the Planet, and the plant and bake sale.

She plans to continue many of the projects she has been a part of thus far and hopefully experience other projects as time allows.

When you see Kellie, be sure to introduce yourself and welcome her to the Norfolk Extension Master Gardeners.