Sequoia's Garden
Sequoia students study ecology and biology in our school garden (on the corner of Hearst and Lincoln) by growing plants and composting, developing a connection to nature and a greater awareness of food and nutrition. Garden instruction is integrated with math, reading, and writing. Veggies sprout, flowers bloom, and children work up an appetite for the cafeteria’s new salad bar!
There are a lot of great things growing and changing in Sequoia's garden. Miss Monica's class has abundant collard greens and lettuce growing. The Healthy Start Program has fava bean plants a foot high, Sue Morgan's Monday garden groups are welcoming earth worms with their bury compost method, and Barbara Schmidt's 5th graders are getting ready to implement a school-wide food scraps collection program, for our garden compost bins.
Along with exciting learning that's taking place, some exciting funding is coming in to make our dreams of Sequoia's Garden and Nutrition program sustainable for the future:
- Annie Riechman, our full-inclusion specialist won a grant to build an accessible planter bed in the garden, so children with walkers and wheelchairs can plant without barriers.
- Mr. Fleischman, along with the other wonderful Kindergarten teachers, was awarded a $500 grant from the East Bay Community Foundation to provide soil and plants for new planter boxes with benches. These were built by Kindergarten parents Amanda and Matt Lockwood, just outside of the kindergarten wing of the school, so that our Kindergarten students can observe nature growth and experiments up close on a daily basis.
- Giovanna Queeto, the Tuesday garden instructor, won a $2000 grant through The Watershed Project, from EB Mud and Stop Waste.org for the garden. The grants were used to purchase items for composting, items with reused or recycled content, and to set up a Native plant and Habitat demonstration garden corner in the garden. Drip irrigation hoses were purchased for garden beds throughout the school, another garden table, wood for a garden shed and more planter boxes, as well as a greenhouse for propagating plants year round.
- Finally, Sue Morgan, our wonderful Monday Garden instructor, who divides her time between neighboring Glenview school and Sequoia, was nominated and won a Bank of America Local Hero Award, for her field education with Friends of Sausal Creek, and commitment to environmental education. Congratulations, Sue! We're lucky to have you among Sequoia's wonderful educators!
If you have resources, ideas, or suggestions for Sequoia's garden, or would like to volunteer, please contact Giovanna Queeto at jojo@queeto.com or (510) 531-3167.
|
 |
|
|
