We had a meeting this week with the principal that mostly resolved the issue. He was no more in favor of concrete than I but also was clear that it can't look as unkempt as it currently does (after 2 years behind construction fencing, and most of last year of my maternity leave) I shared that with the reporter but it doesn't come across in the story.
At this point I think we are good - potentially I might seek donations or grant funds to have La Loma build a new artistically designed fence that would allow us to save the pond because we need to get rid of the ugly chain link fence (reporter called it a "red picket fence" but it's really chain link with red in the slats) that's there now. The rest (the next phase design of the area) will be decided by a team of science teachers (including me) working with admin and the construction liason. I do have to "give up my garden" and I'm sure it will look very different than the one that's there now but I'm going to try and save as many of the fruit trees as possible and the natural feel of the design. The giving up is really surrendering it as belonging to me so that my colleagues at work have some ownership of the area. That's a good thing!
Thanks,
Joan
We need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean waters, clean energies, secure communities,stable regions, and to know how to do it from hands-on experience"
"...the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone.
Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter."
- Bill Mollison
From: Lois Arkin <crsp@igc.org>
To: lapg@arashi.com
Sent: Sun, June 16, 2013 11:10:23 AM
Subject: [Lapg] News Story about Joan Stevens/Arcadia teacher struggles to save school permaculture garden
Hey Joan,
Let us know if you think letters of support from the permaculture networks will help. I have been through this many times over the past few decades with LAUSD, and it has worked to save our outdoor classroom in the 1990s and to save the corner for the multi-school learning garden which is now in development here in L.A. Eco-Village.
Let us know who to write to.
Good luck. Your work is wonderful!
Love,
Lois
---------------------------------------
Arcadia teacher struggles to save school permaculture garden
By James Figueroa, Staff Writer
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_23470632/arcadia-teacher-struggles-save-school-permaculture-garden
Biology teacher Joan Stevens is trying to save the permaculture garden she cultivated at Arcadia High School from becoming concrete planter boxes as the school modernizes, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)
Biology students pull weeds Thursday, June 13, 2013 in a permaculture garden at Arcadia High School that biology teacher Joan Stevens is trying to save from becoming concrete planter boxes as the school modernizes.
Gallery: Arcadia High School's permaculture garden
ARCADIA - The permaculture garden at Arcadia High School is hidden behind a tall, red picket fence. It's overgrown and many students don't even realize it's there.
Its wild look and lily-padded pond also clash with the carefully manicured trees, small bushes and clean concrete benches that mark the landscape throughout the rest of the campus.
However, the garden's existence is important enough to biology teacher Joan Stevens that she's trying to save it from being bulldozed as part of major renovation and construction at the school.
"It's not an aesthetic that everyone likes," Stevens said. "I recognize that my aesthetic is different than what the school is trying to create."
But perma-culture gardens have also grown in popularity, and Stevens enjoys teaching her students about sustainable practices, such as leaving tree cuttings on the ground to act as mulch.
"It's amazing. It's gorgeous, why would they tear this down?" sophomore Josh Bay said Thursday, after helping out on some maintenance on the last day of school.
Sitting on a plot of land between classroom buildings, the garden was also next to an old greenhouse that was damaged during windstorms in 2011. The greenhouse has now been torn down as part of the renovation work.
Given two weeks to come up with a plan to save the garden, Stevens - with the help of landscape architect Marco Barrantes - has submitted a proposal to school administrators to add a semicircular amphitheater and teaching platform that would be part of an outdoor classroom.
Anyone from math to English teachers could then use that space for lessons.
Stevens has already received positive feedback from the science department and Principal Brent Forsee, who told her the idea is viable if it's not too costly.
"He said if it's comparable, then great, let's do this," Stevens said.
Foresee, who participated in Arcadia's graduation ceremony Friday, couldn't be reached for comment.
Arcadia Unified School District declined comment in an email from Assistant Superintendent Christina Aragon, who noted the plan is under review.
The district is performing construction through Measure I, a $218 million bond program passed by voters in 2006.
While the proposal to save the garden might work, it will require some help by other teachers and possibly student clubs to keep it maintained, and it will have to fit in with the rest of the campus instead of being fenced off.
That means letting the garden take on a larger role as part of Arcadia's school culture.
"It's up to me to let go of my garden," Stevens said.
From: Lois Arkin <crsp@igc.org>
To: lapg@arashi.com
Sent: Sun, June 16, 2013 11:10:23 AM
Subject: [Lapg] News Story about Joan Stevens/Arcadia teacher struggles to save school permaculture garden
Hey Joan,
Let us know if you think letters of support from the permaculture networks will help. I have been through this many times over the past few decades with LAUSD, and it has worked to save our outdoor classroom in the 1990s and to save the corner for the multi-school learning garden which is now in development here in L.A. Eco-Village.
Let us know who to write to.
Good luck. Your work is wonderful!
Love,
Lois
---------------------------------------
Arcadia teacher struggles to save school permaculture garden
By James Figueroa, Staff Writer
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_23470632/arcadia-teacher-struggles-save-school-permaculture-garden
Biology teacher Joan Stevens is trying to save the permaculture garden she cultivated at Arcadia High School from becoming concrete planter boxes as the school modernizes, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)
Biology students pull weeds Thursday, June 13, 2013 in a permaculture garden at Arcadia High School that biology teacher Joan Stevens is trying to save from becoming concrete planter boxes as the school modernizes.
Gallery: Arcadia High School's permaculture garden
ARCADIA - The permaculture garden at Arcadia High School is hidden behind a tall, red picket fence. It's overgrown and many students don't even realize it's there.
Its wild look and lily-padded pond also clash with the carefully manicured trees, small bushes and clean concrete benches that mark the landscape throughout the rest of the campus.
However, the garden's existence is important enough to biology teacher Joan Stevens that she's trying to save it from being bulldozed as part of major renovation and construction at the school.
"It's not an aesthetic that everyone likes," Stevens said. "I recognize that my aesthetic is different than what the school is trying to create."
But perma-culture gardens have also grown in popularity, and Stevens enjoys teaching her students about sustainable practices, such as leaving tree cuttings on the ground to act as mulch.
"It's amazing. It's gorgeous, why would they tear this down?" sophomore Josh Bay said Thursday, after helping out on some maintenance on the last day of school.
Sitting on a plot of land between classroom buildings, the garden was also next to an old greenhouse that was damaged during windstorms in 2011. The greenhouse has now been torn down as part of the renovation work.
Given two weeks to come up with a plan to save the garden, Stevens - with the help of landscape architect Marco Barrantes - has submitted a proposal to school administrators to add a semicircular amphitheater and teaching platform that would be part of an outdoor classroom.
Anyone from math to English teachers could then use that space for lessons.
Stevens has already received positive feedback from the science department and Principal Brent Forsee, who told her the idea is viable if it's not too costly.
"He said if it's comparable, then great, let's do this," Stevens said.
Foresee, who participated in Arcadia's graduation ceremony Friday, couldn't be reached for comment.
Arcadia Unified School District declined comment in an email from Assistant Superintendent Christina Aragon, who noted the plan is under review.
The district is performing construction through Measure I, a $218 million bond program passed by voters in 2006.
While the proposal to save the garden might work, it will require some help by other teachers and possibly student clubs to keep it maintained, and it will have to fit in with the rest of the campus instead of being fenced off.
That means letting the garden take on a larger role as part of Arcadia's school culture.
"It's up to me to let go of my garden," Stevens said.