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The
Garden of Possibilities
The school garden at Carthay Center Elementary School in Los Angeles'
mid-Wilshire area mirrors the diversity of its students. Thirteen
languages are spoken in the school, but everyone speaks, "Garden." Grape,
loofah and bitter melon vines obscure one portion of a cyclone fence.
Young apple trees will someday espalier along another section. Papaya
lemon grass, guava and four varieties of banana are some of the delights
of the tropical area. Raised beds-some in full leaf, a few fallow until
the unseasonably warm weather turns cool-give each grade level its own
mini-garden.
A little over two years ago, the space was part of the schoolyard-a large
area of asphalt enclosed by an unadorned cyclone fence. Teresa Dahl, a
parent volunteer, looked at the schoolyard and saw several ways to benefit
the school. A garden would beautify both the school and the community and
enrich each child's learning experiences. Community involvement in the
project would narrow the divide between the community and the
school.
Dahl and a team of other interested parents wrote a community
beautification grant proposal and received a $10,000 matching grant from
the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Public Works. The first job, breaking up
the asphalt and hauling it away was done by a contractor hired with grant
funds. The next task was to bring in
fresh clean soil and amendments to replace the dirt beneath the blacktop.
"We advertised the work days. Hundreds of people supported the garden with
physical labor and by donating to the project," says Dahl. "The garden
project connected the community to the school." Over $60,000 was raised
for the garden.
Early on, Dahl contacted a master gardener program for advice. The two
master gardeners, Herb Machleder and Louisa Cardenas, who came by to help
are still with her. They are volunteers trained by the University of
California Cooperative Extension
Common Ground
program in Los Angeles County. Together, Dahl, Machleder and
Cardenas devise lessons that use the garden to teach California's required
standards in math, science, language arts and other academic subjects.
"We surveyed the teachers at the beginning," Dahl says. "People said they
were afraid of bees and that dirt would be tracked into school. Some
teachers said they wouldn't visit the garden. Now we can't satisfy the
demand. The garden has a calming effect on kids; they learn well." Dahl
sees an important role the garden fulfills in teaching sustainability. "A
school garden builds a fundamental, hands-on awareness and understanding
of nature's cycles that makes recycling real to children instead of an
abstract concept," she says. "It's a way of preparing kids to help in
creating a zero waste future."
For a video about the Garden of Possibilities, click
here.
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