Shop local, support the Learning Hive Academy

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

Four Oxford County businesses will be donating a portion of gift card sales to support The Learning Hive Academy and their students.

Gift cards can be purchased either Reel Treats Popcorn and Sweets, Jarful Local Refillery, Whisk and Roll Bakery, all in Woodstock, and Ingersoll’s Common Place Books. In turn, the businesses will donate a portion of their sales to ensure the Learning Hive Academy can purchase an interactive white board and outdoor play equipment for the students.

"I'm overwhelmed with gratitude,” said Laura Bloxsidge, founder and director of Learning Hive Academy. “Small businesses are, I mean, everyone is in a place right now, right? The economy is hard, finances in small businesses are tight no matter what but especially right now when people's purse strings are held a little tighter, so anyone who was willing to partner with us to try to and help us meet these initiatives here for education, I'm just so like I said, overwhelmed with gratitude."

The Learning Hive Academy began as an initiative in Bloxsidge’s spare bedroom in 2020 for virtual learning, during the height of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that impacted students’ schooling.

"I just really wanted to support kids that I knew and had witnessed struggling with all of the disruptions to classroom time,” she said.

Over time, the education hub grew, and grew from the spare bedroom to the basement to a brick-and-mortar location in Downtown Woodstock to its new home on 1295 Dundas St. The Learning Hive Academy will open in January 2026 as a registered private school and will have full-time education for families. So far, the Learning Hive Academy has supported over 100 families, around 200 students when siblings are included.

Thessaly Sammon, owner of Jarful Local Refillery, was eager to be part of the initiative when approached by Bloxsidge and to be part of something where multiple local businesses come together.

“It is extremely important, especially around the holidays, to support businesses like The Learning Hive. When you invest in your community it always comes back, opposed to spending your money at corporations that don't invest locally,” Sammon said to the Echo.

Maria Gambacourt and Mandy Jones, co-owners of Reel Treats, were on board with the initiative when approached by both Bloxsidge and previous Reel Treats owner Angila Peters.

"During covid, [Laura] was also my son's tutor and so I was happy to support anything over there because she was great for my son when he used her services,” said Jones.