Skip to main content

Small Steps Towards a School Garden at Arroyo High School

Support Provided By
ahs_garden_02.jpg

Go Green AHS has been taking small steps towards making our dream come true of re-establishing an existing school garden. We asked ourselves "Why build a school garden?" Our response was "School gardens can provide students with the opportunity to better understand their relationship with nature, create a dynamic environment for understanding environmental core subjects, and promotes cooperation through group activities.

Our goals and timeline:

March
- Go Green AHS will be established as an official school club
- Outreaching to other school clubs, teachers, and students
- Host a clean-up day event
- Attend two Earthworks Farm training workshops
- Outreach during during this years Open House event
- Initiate our fundraising strategy for 2015/2016 school year

April
- Submit our request form to present during the El Monte Unified High School District board meeting on May 6th
- Launch our 1st fundraising event
- Building garden boxes, repair garden fence, and relocate tool shed
- Plant the following: basil, beans, beets, carrots, chives, cilantro, corn, cucumber, dill, eggplant, green bunching onions, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnip, peas, peppers, radish, spinach, strawberries, squash, sunflower, swiss chard, tomatoes, and thyme.

May
- Present our project to the El Monte Unified High School District Board Board on May 6
- Plant the following: melons, all squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, green and yellow beans, dried beans, and corn.
- Launch our 2nd fundraising event

June
- Launch our 3rd fundraising event
- Enjoy gardening
- Create a summer schedule for students, teachers, and community organizations

Things to consider as we move forward:

Water: Need to decide whether using a water hose or establishing an irrigation system.

Herbicides and Pesticides: Need to avoid areas that have been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides.

Access: Who will have access (students, teachers, and school staff)? How will we protect our garden from vandalism or theft?

Safety: Safety will need to be understood from everyone who will be pat of the school garden.

If your ready to be part of a school garden revolution:

You should be open to volunteer during school hours, after school, and some weekdays. Be open to learn and attend one or two gardening and gardening safety training sessions. Be open to learn not just gardening; but writing donation letters for local businesses; and be willing to pick up donated materials.

*We hope the garden will be open to the El Monte community sometime in 2016*

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.