School Garden Cultivates Spirit of Community

By REGINA HONG

June 1, 1998 12 AM PT

Not everyone was invited to the dedication of the new Camarillo garden.

“Peter Rabbit Keep Out,” said one sign. To reinforce that message, a scarecrow surrounded by a plot of marigolds and petunias held another sign reading, “Bunnies Not Allowed.”

All non-critters, though--students, parents and teachers--held a celebration last week marking the opening of Life Lab Garden at Bedford Open and El Descanso elementary schools, which share the same grounds.

“Some things come to the man who waits,” El Descanso Principal Joyce Amer said during the dedication. “Some things come to the man who seeks.”

In this case, the campus did the seeking, Amer added.

The Life Lab Garden, located in four areas of the campus, caps four years of work by parents, students and agencies that volunteered to raise funds and plant the garden.

The schools received a $1,000 grant from the Hansen Trust Fund, as well as $500 from biotechnology firm Amgen Inc. Most--about $7,000--came from community donations and student fund-raisers.

The gardens--filled with budding flowers, vegetables, seedlings and cacti--provide lessons about health, nutrition, math and science, said Linda Ngarupe, Bedford’s assistant principal.

Creating school gardens has become a statewide trend, especially after state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin said two years ago she wanted one on every campus.

In Ventura County, gardens have been sprouting from Meadows Elementary School in Thousand Oaks to Montalvo Elementary School in Ventura. And students don’t seem to mind the mess at all.

“Thank you, dirt,” they sang during the ceremony. “Thanks a bunch for my salad, my sandwich, my milk, my munch.”

First-grade teacher Pilar Martinez said her students have taken ownership of their plot and feel responsible for it.

“Some say, ‘Ms. Martinez, there’s some trash in the garden, I need to get it out,’ ” she recalled. Others remind her that they need to water the plants.

Parents, some of whom have waited for years to see the project come to fruition, are grateful the time has come.

“I’m supporting this 100%,” said Luzmary Holt, who helped haul dirt and rocks. “It’s been four years since we started, and finally, we got it going.”