In the spring of 2008, The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council (GGPNC), set aside $11,000 for the re-soding of the amphitheatre at Thomas Starr King Middle school.  Tomas O Grady, a GGPNC board member and Mark Jolley, Thomas Starr King vice principal, put together a plan to reduce the sod area from 11,000sf to 8,000sf, to add decomposed granite paths, a vegetable garden, fruit trees, shade trees, and native drought tolerant plants. And so it began. $12,000 was not enough. The GGPNC gave an additional $5,000. We had barely enough money for materials, never mind labor. Volunteers from Farm Feliz, the local green group headed by O’Grady, got to work. The new veggie garden needed a fence. LAUSD facilities allowed us to hire a “non district” ironworker to fabricate the veggie garden fence which Farm Feliz volunteers helped install. Students and teachers and parents started to pitch in.

Dana Cremin, a local activist, delivered 400 volunteers through the Big Sunday organization to help finish the job.  A new Big Sunday team was formed along with Mary Rodriguez, from CD4, a well known King supporter. The project expanded even further. Kristen Kaiser, the Principal envisioned a lobby filled with welcome in 15 different languages. Barbara Bestor, a local architect, agreed to design this. We got an additional $3,000 in funding from Big Sunday. We got $2,000 from the LAUSD gardening program.        

Farm Feliz people, Tomas, Justine Tyler, Leslie Weinstein, Tina Vukovic, Adan Lopez, Mark Mauceri (GGPNC secretary) and Dana worked around the clock to prepare for Big Sunday, May 3^rd.

Over 400 people showed up on Big Sunday and worked on a project that produced a new lawn, decomposed granite paths, veggie garden, fruit trees, reading garden and almost 70 native plants and a welcome wall in 15 different languages. There were church people, King Parent’s and staff, students, local schools, and Councilman Tom LaBonge.

O grady says “Everyone worked together. This joint effort, with funds from the GGPNC and hard work from volunteers meant we did a lot with very little. We got nothing but complete enthusiastic cooperation from LAUSD facilities. “

This is just the beginning. We are busy looking for other sources of funding to add new seating, picnic tables, outdoor blackboards and more landscaping.

Why a learning garden? A garden is really another classroom and perfect for urban students to reconnect with the earth. Why landscaping? A park like setting lets students relax. Why native plants? They use almost no water once established and require no fertilizer or care.

Why volunteers? Does not LAUSD have money to do this? Why Neighborhood Council money?

We think LAUSD money needs to go to more teachers and let people who are willing volunteers come in and help on other areas. This can make a small amount of money go along way.

Tom LaBonge says “Now this is what neighborhood councils are about”