One of the absolute best parts of working with Petaluma Educational Foundation at this time of year is to visit schools all around the city who have been awarded susbstantial Major Impact Grants. At a time when almost all news pertaining to school funding here in California is pretty much guaranteed to be dismal, there's nothing to beat the absolute and encouraging tools of hope for ongoing enhancement of excellence in education, delivered in these PEF Major Impact Grant presentations.
Casa Grande High School's innovative Outdoor Learning Environment - OLE! Farm and Garden Project is on the brink of its first bountiful Spring's planting season thanks to its substantial $5,000 Petaluma Educational Foundation 2012 Major Impact Grant, generously funded by Petaluma Garden Club and CGHS alumni, Sharon and Jim Kimball.
The Farm and Garden Phase of the school's visionary and extensive OLE! Project is designed to engage teenage students in learning healthy nutrition by growing, harvesting and cooking their own foods, as a means to raise academic test scores and lower obesity. Fresh produce grown in the organic farm and garden section of what is shaping up as a state-of-the-art, regional showcase outdoor learning environment, will be purchased by Petaluma City Schools' Food Services Program for use in the school's cafeteria.
One hundred percent of the school's 1,750 student population in grades nine through 12 will benefit from this grant, providing invaluable hand-on, interactive experience at a crucial time in their lives for learning how to make their own healthy lifestyle choices before leaving home.
"The goal of this project is to develop a quarter of an acre garden in the center of Casa Grande High School, bringing a healthy nutritional awareness for all students," said Megan Donner, the school's Culinary Arts Instructor and John Shribbs, Environmental Science Instructor, in the Major Impact Grant Application to PEF, that they co-authored last fall. "The OLE Farm/Garden Phase is part of a larger school wide permaculture renovation of the once fallow quad in the center of the school. This past summer, with community support we were able to break ground, completing the site grading and main pathways, creating the area for the garden, the outdoor kitchen, the amphitheater and two outdoor classrooms."
The program has been carefully designed over the past three years to give all students from all curricula areas the chance to connect with the outdoors, learning about healthy and sustainable environmental practices. When completed, it is expected to be a model for other school districts to learn from and incorporate into their high schools.
This Farm/Garden funded phase will teach sustainable living through soils, local organic farming/growing practices, harvesting and cooking vegetables as seasonal dishes, as well as supplying the school's cafeteria with fresh, organic vegetables.
Members of the Petaluma Garden Club and fellow grant donors, Sharon and Jim Kimball toured the OLE! Project with Donner and Shribbs, this February. The donors were able to see where irrigation for row crops will be installed, with the farm garden expected to be fully up and running and producing vegetables by this fall. "We are so delighted to be co-funding the organic farm/garden in this outstanding project," said Petaluma Garden Club President, Leslie Goodrich. "It is so completely relevant and we look forward to returning for another tour as soon as it is up and running."
Cafeteria staff has started saving compost materials and Green String Farm interns are poised to come on board as farm garden volunteer instructors to further inspire students that growing their own produce is the way forward!
OLE! is intended as a resource for the entire Petaluma community and the school continues to invite participation from all sectors. The grassy amphitheater, which will seat an estimated 150 people, will be available for public use. OLE organizers envision this venue for music, theater, dance, cooking demonstrations, and lectures. OLE will also be a place for outdoor classes for adults and children. For more information, see the Ole! Project Website.
Twenty two Major Impact Grant applications were submitted to PEF, last fall. Of the 22 applications amounting to $283,000 in funding requests, the foundation's highly trained Grant Selection Committee followed a rigorous program (including short list in-person presentations) to evaluate its top choices. In total, 14 Major Impact Grants, including this $5,000 grant for Casa Grande's farm/garden phase of the OLE! Project will have been funded this Spring totaling $158,000.
Petaluma Educational Foundation continues to make great strides in our community to match corporate and individual partners to specific grant funding opportunities. To find out more about how to connect with PEF in making a major impact in a school in Petaluma, click here.







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