It had been nearly a year since EMA Young Hollywood Board Member Rachelle Lefevre’s last visit to Helen Bernstein High School’s garden, and a lot had changed (and grown!) since then.
The garden is in full bloom with everything from carrots, to peppers, watermelons, roses, basil, cilantro, and everything in between growing beautifully!
Rachelle toured the garden and got her hands dirty by digging in.
Over the last year, the LA Conservation Corps has partnered with EMA to build eight school gardens in the greater Los Angeles area as part of EMA’s School Garden Program. The latest garden was built in January in downtown LA at Metropolitan High School, the largest alternative high school in the district. Ten raised garden beds were installed to function as an outdoor laboratory for the school’s new horticulture class.
EMA Young Hollywood Board Member Malin Akerman visits the Metropolitan High School garden during Earth Week 2012 and talks about the importance of school gardens.
Malin and students planted tomato seeds and harvested some snap peas.
EMA Young Hollywood Board Member, Lance Bass gets the red carpet treatment, sings with some students, and digs in with the environmental club in the school garden.
It was quite a morning at 186th Street Elementary School. The red carpet was rolled out for Lance Bass, who visited the school as a garden mentor.
Principal Marcia Reed proudly toured Lance around the gorgeous school grounds, stopping for photos with excited students and staff.
Part of the tour included a quick stop in to the auditorium where students engaged in school cheers and songs. Lance was called in to be part of the action where he joined in with cheers and chants and a few choice dance moves.
Then it was on to the gardens which were plentiful and in full bloom. Some student gardeners from the environmental club helped Lance plant a rose bush. Continue reading
EMA Young Hollywood Board Member, Emmanuelle Chriqui visited Carson Senior High School yesterday to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony for their new windmill (the first at a LAUSD school) and to do some additional planting in the garden she’s been mentoring for several years.
The one-acre garden boasts peach, apple, plum, nectarine, and banana trees alongside vegetables and herbs. The garden acts as a learning environment for students in all grade and skill levels. It provides lessons not only in healthy eating, but has helped low ability students with cognitive and social skills. Several students with autism have improved their social and anger management skills thanks to the calming aromas of the herb garden. Continue reading
EMA Young Hollywood Board Member and Necessary Roughness star, Mehcad Brooks, along with the LA Conservation Corps, principal Peter Pannell and PUSD Superintendent Jon Gundry helped dedicate a school garden at Eliot Middle School on this rainy Wednesday afternoon.
Eliot Middle School is EMA’s 17th school garden and our largest to date, with nine drip irrigated planter beds and surrounding fruit trees. The garden was funded with a contribution from Sony Pictures and actress Cameron Diaz, who’s Bad Teacher filmed at the school.
EMA President Debbie Levin spoke about how gardens teach students about sustainability as well as healthy eating – lessons that can last a lifetime. The garden will also be used to provide hands-on science lessons for Eliot students. Continue reading
The School Garden at Metropolitan High School in Downtown LA Will Be a Learning Lab and an Example of How to Create a Sustainable Food Source
The LA Conservation Corps, in a role supporting the Environmental Media Association, has begun construction of a school garden at Metropolitan High School, the largest single-site continuation program in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The campus is located at 727 S. Wilson St. in an industrial area of downtown, adjacent to Skid Row. The project will consist of clearing and leveling the garden area, constructing and installing raised garden beds and filling and planting seeds and seedlings.
The garden is part of EMA’s School Gardens Program, in which the LA Conservation Corps is a partner. Together with EMA’s corporate sponsors and celebrity mentors, the program created six school gardens in 2011. EMA believes that students don’t
have to learn only within the confines of four walls, but that education
can take place in a dynamic atmosphere that engages students in a unique
and creative fashion. Continue reading
