Garden Classroom

"Recognizing the educational and health benefits of school gardens, the California Department of Education launched the Garden in Every School Initiative in 1995. Subsequently, the Governor and Legislature, acknowledging the value of school garden projects, enacted several bills that promote instructional school gardens:

Assembly Bill 1014, Instructional School Gardens (1999) – establishes the instructional school garden program.
Senate Bill 19, The Pupil Health, Nutrition, and Achievement Act (2001) – identifies school gardens as one way to increase student preferences for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Assembly Bill 1634, Nutrition Education (2002) – further supports school gardens through identifying best practices and supporting a grant program.

The Nutrition Services Division leads the Garden in Every School program and collaborates with individuals and organizations that support school gardens, including public and private agricultural agencies, waste management agencies, health agencies, and others. With 3000 school gardens, the Garden in Every School program reaches throughout the state to enhance education and health." http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/he/gardenoverview.asp

In addition to the educational benefits derived from school gardens, they also foster community, environmental stewardship, and provide a vital source of physical activity for our children and our community. However, it is not always possible for every school to provide land, resources, or human capital necessary to sustain a school garden. HELP will provide a garden classroom setting available to all schools in the community.

Over the fall and winter of 2008, HELP will build and develop the hardscape for the Garden Classroom which will cover approximately an acre and will implement the Life Lab curriculum.

Published by the University of California, Santa Cruz, this curriculum was designed specifically to meet the California Department of Education standards. Life Lab provides for every aspect of creating and sustaining a school-based garden project while also meeting the standards through a broad-based curriculum which covers art, literature, math, science, nutrition, health, and ecoliteracy, among others.

Beginning in the spring of 2009, local schools visiting the Garden Classroom will participate in designing, cultivating, planting, and maintaining various elements of the garden such as:

Human Sundial
Observational Bee Hive
Theme Beds
?         Tea Bed
?         Dried Flower Bed
?         Pollinator Beds
?         Plant Adaptations Bed (tropical, succulent, and carnivorous)
?         Birds, Bees, Bats, Butterflies and Beyond
?         Zoo Bed
?         Apple Room
?         Soup Bed, Pizza Bed, Salsa Bed, Salad Bed, Stir Fry Bed
?         History Bed
?         Literature Bed
?         Native Plants
?         Victory Garden Bed
Weather Station
Pond
Flower Tunnel
Solar Bird Bath
Carnivorous Bog
Wheel Chair Bed
Root View Box
Garden Kitchen/Solar Oven
The Rot Zone (Composting Area)
Worms

The program will charge a nominal per class field trip fee. Individuals not affiliated with a school will also be charged a nominal fee. The garden will also be available for use by businesses, photographers, and others for a rental fee.

The “In a Pot or in a Plot” program provides resources to encourage all schools and families who visit the Garden Classroom to garden at home, in their classrooms, or in their school.