In the fall of 2012, Echo Horizon School teamed together with a several Sony employees and parents to apply for Sony Pictures “A Greener World” grant.
Echo Horizon proposed a concept expanding upon their current garden to include an additional four planter boxes, doubling the size of the existing garden and adding a water feature which would allow for washing and preparing garden harvests for consumption.
In December, Sony’s Greener World Grant Committee selected Echo Horizon School as the recipient for a $7,500 grant.
On March 12, parents and teachers helped students plant basil, lettuce, scallions, radishes and other vegetables that will be ready for harvest in 4-6 weeks.
“The planting was a great success, and almost all grade levels were out there contributing their time and efforts to plant the garden. Thanks to Sony we have doubled our garden footprint so that more students can be involved,” said Assistant Head of School Martha Schuur.
None of this would be possible without the Sony parents who spearheaded the Sony grant process and Gina Powell, our own Mother Earth, who nurtures the children as well as the gardens.
”It was amazing to watch children of all ages take such pride in their garden, and it was a rewarding pleasure to help them plant,” said Sony parent Elise Futterman.
“We’ve found that the more the children garden, the more they love it. Time in the garden is a combination of slowing down and starring at a new butterfly chrysalis on the milkweeds, or an outburst of joy at finding another worm in the compost,” said Powell.
Last week’s planting was in preparation for “A Taste of the Garden” Earth Day harvest on April 22, where the school will have a pesto-themed celebration of the expanded garden.
“We are looking forward to Earth Day and hope to find a Culver City vendor who would like to donate bread for bruschetta that will be part of our school’s celebration,” said Schuur.
