Introducing the New and Improved Adelante School Garden
After many months of good design and hard work, Leadership Santa Barbara County and Explore Ecology unveiled the beautiful, new, and improved garden spaces at Adelante Charter School. The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Dedication took place in Santa Barbara on Friday, May 13th.
Alex Bereda, School Gardens Director, Talking to Crowd (Photo- Jill Cloutier)
Each year, Leadership Santa Barbara County (LSBC) chooses a Community Service Project. Working with Alex Bereda, Explore Ecology’s School Gardens Program Director, participants in the LSBC project revitalized Adelante’s school garden and outdoor learning space.
Ribbon Cutting at Adelante (Photo – Jill Cloutier)
LSBC classes seek projects where they can have hands-on experience in addition to raising funds and awareness. Past LSBC class projects include a Chicken Coop for Fairview Gardens Educational Program, Onsite Mini-Libraries for the Housing Authority of SB, and a Playground for Isla Vista Youth Projects.
LSBC Student Hard at Work (Photo- Sam Dickinson)
The Explore Ecology School Gardens Program currently serves approximately 10,000 students in thirty schools, in five school districts throughout Santa Barbara County. The School Gardens Program connects students to their food and their environment through hands on, meaningful lessons in the outdoor garden classroom.The new garden areas at Adelante will be used as outdoor classrooms where students learn about organic gardening, composting, and other nature-related topics.
Crystal Franco, Garden Educator (Photo- Jill Cloutier)
The Adelante School Garden Project wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the partners and sponsors that made it such a success. Special thanks to the Teacher’s Fund, Los Agaves Restaurant, Mandala Gardens, Milpas Rental, Allen Construction, and Kidzmet.
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson