rs build a drought-resistant native garden on the school’s campus near Los Angeles. CREDIT: Apples and Honey Photography
I got a glimpse of what the future could look like a couple of weeks ago at a small school in Inglewood, California, called Environmental Charter Middle School. Just steps away from some of the most congested freeways in Los Angeles, this school is working in partnership with The Nature Conservancy to create an inspiring and interactive living campus that brings learning to life while also serving as a model of sustainable living and ecological design for the entire community.
On October 21st, together with Lowe’s Heroes volunteers from Hawthorne, Torrance and Burbank and the Theodore Payne Foundation, we worked to empower students to address a local environmental challenge affecting their community. I watched these students transform a concrete parking lot outside their school into a vibrant green space, bringing the benefits of nature to the greater community. By rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty to plant drought-resistant plants native to Southern California, the students not only created a rich outdoor learning lab, but took action to make a difference in their neighborhood and help address issues of water scarcity – a challenge that the entire city of Los Angeles is grappling with.
© An ECMS-I student learns about native plants while working to build the school’s drought-resistant native plant garden. CREDIT: Apples and Honey Photography
While this may seem like a drop in the bucket in the large scale effort needed to address the issues of drought affecting much of our western states, just imagine if every school district followed suit, modeling for the city and schools across the country how we can mobilize a new generation in implementing the natural solutions needed to curb climate change impacts and restore nature to our largest cities.
That would certainly be a win for the planet. Ongoing access to green school campuses would be a win for our nation’s youth as well. Studies consistently show that access to nature and green space can help students be more successful in and outside of the classroom—improving concentration, problem-solving skills, self-esteem and, yes, even those hotly-debated standardized test scores.
For more information on bringing school gardens to more of our nation’s schools, visit natureworkseverywhere.org.