NEWS                                                                                    Walnut Valley Unified School District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             880 S. Lemon Avenue

April 21, 2013                                                                      Walnut, CA 91789

 

Contact:       

Kelli Gile, Office of Community Resources

(909) 595-1261 ext. 31204

 

Collegewood students celebrate garden bounty

WALNUT, CA--Collegewood Elementary students enjoyed a family picnic lunch in celebration of their new garden on April 10.

Teacher Stacey Bell’s third grade class and RSP Aide Linda Cuesta’s students care for the new plants and flowers located just outside Bell’s classroom.

“The picnic was a chance for students to share a casual luncheon with their family and friends surrounded by spring blooms and a cool breeze. After lunch, everyone enjoyed walking through the garden and taking pictures,” Bell said.

During the picnic, the group thanked fifth grade parent and Walnut City Council Member Eric Ching for his generous donation for the garden.

Collegewood teachers and staff members also contributed to the project.

“These donations made it possible to purchase everything for our garden, Cuesta said.

“It was a beautiful day and the students enjoyed talking and sharing news about the garden,” Cuesta said.

In January, WVUSD Grounds Department members Odin Ilnicky, Paul LeBrun, David Escobedo and Efren Goytia built the frames for the project.

“We ordered the raised beds for the garden, and they assembled them, brought in mulch and the first plants. The guys worked really hard and helped us out,” Cuesta said.

Later the kids got a chance to dig into the new project planting flower and herb seeds.

“Once the kids got into the dirt they loved it. It's been a really good experience for them,” Cuesta said.

Students take care of the plants - they water and weed, and shoo the rabbits away!

The garden is now brimming with native plants that are also drought resistant. It’s been trial and error finding just the right plants for the garden.

Now that spring has arrived, the garden is in full bloom.

“We were able to cut some flowers on Friday and then gave special Collegewood bouquets to several teachers,” Cuesta said.

Parent Eric Ching with students Tyler Tarigo, Jackie Fernandez, and Morgan Henderson. 

Collegewood third grade teacher Stacey Bell and RSP Aide Linda Cuesta thanked Eric Ching for his generous donation that helped fund the garden project.

WVUSD Grounds Crew Members Odin Ilnicky, Paul LeBrun, David Escobedo and Efren Goytia installed the raised garden beds in January.