Billy Mitchell Elementary School

Billy Mitchell Elementary School is one of eight schools in the Lawndale Elementary School District, Los Angeles County, California. We are continuously evolving our curriculum and instructional program to meet the needs of our students. A reflection of that is in our garden and nutrition program. All of our students are the stewards of this garden under the guidance and supervision of our Master Gardener and parent and community volunteers. Experience has taught us that student ownership of a garden is a key to success. The students are responsible for preparing the soil, planting, weeding, watering, composting and harvesting. A "hands-on" approach to every aspect of the garden's existence reinforces the student's ownership of the endeavor from start to finish. 

Our school garden offers a perfect arena for influencing children's choices for foods. The nutrition lessons combined with the garden encourage a willingness to sample foods that the kids have watched grow and harvest and discussed in the classroom. Understanding the "seed to plate" concept is reinforced by the preparation and consumption of our harvest such as soups, salads, salsa or our version of fast food: grab and go fruits and veggies.

In order for the garden to be an ongoing "teachable tool", and thrive, five lessons are presented each school year to the entire student body of 600+ kindergarten through fifth grade students. Teachers sign up for a 45 minute garden lesson that supports and integrates our Common Core Standards. We have a total of 25 classes, including Special Education, plus our after school Garden Club, that enjoy our bio-diverse outdoor classroom. In addition to our garden lessons, once a week during lunch, our volunteers guide the students through basic garden procedures and techniques. Utilizing higher critical thinking skills (Blooms' Taxonomy), a series of daily activities (hands-on) and discussion, (that encompasses assessing and evaluation of the progression of the garden), all translate to adding to the students knowledge of nutrition, plant biology, propagation, soil, composting, companion planting, harvesting, and crop rotation.

Our program is in its ninth year of operation. All of our funding relies on outside sources (grants and in-kind donations) and is completely independent of the school and school district. We are always looking for ways to maintain that financial independence, as well as expanding our crop production to help our families, including a raised bed devoted to our Lawndale Commodities Program (food bank). All the crops raised in this bed is weighed, bagged and donated at harvesting time. Our garden program has become a known entity in the community and who better to advertise and spread the word about our program? The students themselves! After a day in the garden they have plenty to share and talk about.