As the school year ramps up this fall, the students at Pacific Beach High School already have lettuce, tomatoes, corn, sunflowers and much more growing in their garden plots at City Farm–San Luis Obispo that they planted this summer in the three-‐week pilot program for City Farm School.
City Farm School is the combination of enriched curriculum in the classroom, developed by teacher Anne Wilder, and hands on outdoor learning. Students earn academic credit while studying elements of the food system such as international versus local supply chains, the history of food, the physics, chemistry and biology of agro-ecology, and the principles of sustainable and organic agriculture.
“The City Farm School provides an on‐farm experience that we hope will be transformative for these students as they learn about science, biology, agriculture and food through a new lens and a unique approach,” said Jenna Smith, Central Coast Grown Executive Director. “It’s extremely exciting to see the youth in our community growing their own food at City Farm.”
The students will spend three days in the garden each week with newly developed curriculum during the 2014-15 school year. One exciting future possibility is the opportunity to expand into a ¼ acre student-‐managed production farm supported by Central Coast Grown. This will depend on the level of engagement and interest from the students.
This long term collaborative programming and partnership between Central Coast Grown and Pacific Beach High School is made possible with the generous support of the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation, United Way of San Luis Obispo County and Janssen Youth & Youth Sports Fund, held at the Community Foundation San Luis Obispo. The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo is a public trust established to assist donors in building an enduring source of charitable funds to meet the changing needs and interests of the community.
For more information about Central Coast Grown and City Farm–San Luis Obispo, visit www.centralcoastgrown.org