WE G

arden (Westminster Elementary Garden) is converting its asphalt schoolyard into a state-of-the-art learning laboratory, organic garden.

Our school boasts two organic gardens, one with an an outdoor classroom, which is fully integrated into in-class science, language and math curricula. All students plant, tend, harvest, cook and joyously eat the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. The garden enriches the students' understanding of ecology, biology, nutrition and a love of the natural world.

Master Gardeners Nora Dvosin and Nancy Giffin, along with students, parents, teachers and community volunteers, are re-imagining the school campus with support from Principal Karen Brown. Our Master Plan (drawn by Venice architect, Lewin Wertheimer) includes a reading garden, an urban forest of native California trees and shrubs, a Native American garden, and a new 1,000 sq ft garden for our kindergarten students. We hold community garden workdays on the 2nd Saturday of every month, (always well-attended by parents, teachers and volunteers...as well as our students) we're hard at work converting unused space into a very special garden and orchard.

WE Garden has become a healthy, beautiful, environmentally sustainable resource for our students.