Rosemead High School

The goal of the “The Best of Thymes” garden is to create smarter, healthier, more inspired students. This grant allows students to learn more about sustainability and health by immersing themselves in “real science” and “digging deep”: (1) creating an urban permaculture garden that focuses on growing things that match our desert micro- and macro-climate; (2) integrating classroom learning with long-term “real world” gardening projects, motivating students to persist in their studies and to graduation; (3) improving our high-poverty students’ own food knowledge and choices; (4) transforming garden yield into produce and products that can be used by the school’s aspiring Restaurant Management Academy chefs and donated to the community’s many low-income families; (5) significantly raising the level of students’ understanding and perceived responsibility for environmental stewardship and community health.