Schools

New School Garden Sprouts at Glassell Park Elementary

Like the new school garden at Luther Burbank Middle School, Glassell Elementary's garden was funded and built by Enrich L.A.

Another new school garden has sprouted in Northeast L.A. thanks to the coordinating efforts of Enrich L.A.

Last Saturday, May 26, teachers and students from Glassell Park Elementary School, along with the crew from Enrich L.A. planted a new garden in what was formerly a shady lot.

From Enrich L.A.'s blog:

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Maybe it was the trees, maybe it was the positive spirit of the principle and the staff at the school, maybe it was the help of volunteers from FoxGives and Revolution Training Center from Church on the Way the day before the build, or the volunteers from the community and EnrichLA and elsewhere that came on Saturday to help with the build, or more likely all of the above, but by Saturday afternoon 6:30 Glassell Park had a new edible garden with raised edible garden beds, a native plant section, mulched walkways and a timed sprinkler system that was up and running!

Enrich L.A., which is a non-profit organization, has built more than a dozen school gardens throughout Los Angeles, including one at in Highland Park.

Find out what's happening in Highland Park-Mount Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Speaking to Patch in November, Enrich L.A. founder Tomas O'Grady said that the gardens can be integrated into the school's curriculum as way to teach a variety of lessons, ranging from horticulture to healthy eating.

"The garden at Burbank will mostly be for seventh grade science teachers to incorporate gardening activities and cooking activities into their curriculum," O'Grady said. "We're not trying to save the world, we're just trying to show kids that you can eat with class and enjoy it. A little piece of toasted bread, with a little bit of olive oil, fresh mozzarella and some fresh basil from the garden--they can enjoy it and it's also good for them."


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