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With some help from the landscape architects at David Evans and Associates, Inc. (DEA), the California School Garden Network (CSGN) and celebrity garden designer Dawson Connor, local students brought new life to a long-neglected garden at Locke High School in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif. On Oct. 21, 2006, students, teachers and community members gathered at Locke High School?EUR??,,????'?????<??oewhich had been selected by the CSGN to receive a garden makeover?EUR??,,????'?????<??oeto kick off the inaugural California School Garden Week. California First Lady and CSGN honorary chairwoman Maria Shriver was among the volunteers who planted 5,000 seedlings that day. Also in the crowd were Landscape Discipline Leader Kim Rhodes and Landscape Architect Chris Giannini of DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s Ontario office, who rolled up their sleeves to pitch in on the final stage of a project they had started a month before. Rhodes had initially been approached by a colleague about a volunteer opportunity with the CSGN and signed on to do the work after speaking with CSGN Chairman Tim Alderson, the project coordinator.
With some help from the landscape architects at David Evans and Associates, Inc. (DEA), the California School Garden Network (CSGN) and celebrity garden designer Dawson Connor, local students brought new life to a long-neglected garden at Locke High School in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif.
On Oct. 21, 2006, students, teachers and community members gathered at Locke High School?EUR??,,????'?????<??oewhich had been selected by the CSGN to receive a garden makeover?EUR??,,????'?????<??oeto kick off the inaugural California School Garden Week. California First Lady and CSGN honorary chairwoman Maria Shriver was among the volunteers who planted 5,000 seedlings that day.
Also in the crowd were Landscape Discipline Leader Kim Rhodes and Landscape Architect Chris Giannini of DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s Ontario office, who rolled up their sleeves to pitch in on the final stage of a project they had started a month before. Rhodes had initially been approached by a colleague about a volunteer opportunity with the CSGN and signed on to do the work after speaking with CSGN Chairman Tim Alderson, the project coordinator.
?EUR??,,????'?????<?Bringing in a firm of DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s stature to help with a project like this may seem a little like bringing in Boeing to help build paper airplanes,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Alderson. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?The fact is that DEA jumped in willingly and enthusiastically, and we simply could not have pulled off such an ambitious project without them. Kim Rhodes and Chris Giannini took our very conceptual ideas and turned them into a road map for success.?EUR??,,????'?????<? The Locke High School Garden is approximately one acre in size. Overgrown with trees and riddled with underbrush and garbage, the garden had been in disuse for more than a decade. Plans to renovate the garden were put into high gear by Locke High School counselor Dr. James Persons and agriculture teacher Kuwanda Bonilla, who secured a grant to help fund the project. DEA worked closely with Dawson Connor, the former landscape designer on the TV program ?EUR??,,????'?????<?Extreme Home Makeover,?EUR??,,????'?????<? to create the themed garden layout. Rhodes and Giannini visited the site, took measurements, and identified challenges?EUR??,,????'?????<??oecreating a digital plan that incorporated Dawson Connor?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s ideas and their own recommendations. The flourishing garden now features a number of dwarf stone fruit trees and a cornucopia of assorted herbs and vegetables. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?This was a good project and program for DEA to get involved with,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Giannini, who became the day-to-day DEA contact for the project. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?It was great to see how invested the kids were in the garden and how much they were enjoying themselves.?EUR??,,????'?????<? Locke High School plans to implement horticulture classes to teach students about the environment and agriculture through a hands-on learning approach. The garden also will serve as an outdoor classroom for other disciplines such as math, science or art. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s generosity has made it possible for educators at this school to impact kids in ways they never could inside a classroom,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Alderson. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?It is our hope that other landscape professionals will see the benefits of school gardens and reach out to schools with assistance in the same way.?EUR??,,????'?????<? The California School Garden Network is a nonprofit group dedicated to creating a garden in every California school. The group represents more than 40 public and private organizations, educational institutions and state agencies. Visit www.csgn.orgfor more information. Involvement is one of the founding values that DEA was built upon. DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s employees donate hundreds of hours every year as volunteers and provide professional advice for a wide variety of community projects and enterprises. For more information about DEA, visit www.deainc.com
?EUR??,,????'?????<?Bringing in a firm of DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s stature to help with a project like this may seem a little like bringing in Boeing to help build paper airplanes,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Alderson. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?The fact is that DEA jumped in willingly and enthusiastically, and we simply could not have pulled off such an ambitious project without them. Kim Rhodes and Chris Giannini took our very conceptual ideas and turned them into a road map for success.?EUR??,,????'?????<?
The Locke High School Garden is approximately one acre in size. Overgrown with trees and riddled with underbrush and garbage, the garden had been in disuse for more than a decade. Plans to renovate the garden were put into high gear by Locke High School counselor Dr. James Persons and agriculture teacher Kuwanda Bonilla, who secured a grant to help fund the project.
DEA worked closely with Dawson Connor, the former landscape designer on the TV program ?EUR??,,????'?????<?Extreme Home Makeover,?EUR??,,????'?????<? to create the themed garden layout. Rhodes and Giannini visited the site, took measurements, and identified challenges?EUR??,,????'?????<??oecreating a digital plan that incorporated Dawson Connor?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s ideas and their own recommendations. The flourishing garden now features a number of dwarf stone fruit trees and a cornucopia of assorted herbs and vegetables.
?EUR??,,????'?????<?This was a good project and program for DEA to get involved with,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Giannini, who became the day-to-day DEA contact for the project. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?It was great to see how invested the kids were in the garden and how much they were enjoying themselves.?EUR??,,????'?????<?
Locke High School plans to implement horticulture classes to teach students about the environment and agriculture through a hands-on learning approach. The garden also will serve as an outdoor classroom for other disciplines such as math, science or art.
The California School Garden Network is a nonprofit group dedicated to creating a garden in every California school. The group represents more than 40 public and private organizations, educational institutions and state agencies. Visit www.csgn.orgfor more information.
Involvement is one of the founding values that DEA was built upon. DEA?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s employees donate hundreds of hours every year as volunteers and provide professional advice for a wide variety of community projects and enterprises.
For more information about DEA, visit www.deainc.com
Raleigh, North Carolina
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
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