Sage Garden Project grant to help school gardens grow at Skyline, Solana Vista

Students attending Solana Vista and Skyline Schools are sowing the seeds for their futures with the help of a generous grant from the Sage Garden Project and The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation.

The two schools have been selected to receive more than $6,000 each to put toward gardening and nutrition education and supplies for the 2019-20 school year.

“We’re so grateful to have the support of the Sage Garden Project. With this funding, Solana Vista students are able to experience hands-on gardening and cooking activities,” said Katie Zimmer, Solana Vista principal. “I love it when parents tell me that their child requested sauteed swiss chard for dinner. Students are more willing to try new foods when they plant the seeds themselves!”

At Skyline, Principal Kim Pinkerton said the school’s garden coordinator Anne Paulsen is excited to offer classes as well as lunch clubs for budding gardeners and chefs.

Students at work in the school garden.

(Courtesy)

“This generous grant helps Skyline School provide gardening and cooking opportunities for all of our students throughout the year,” said Pinkerton. “We’re incredibly grateful.”

The Sage Garden Project, a local charitable foundation that supports gardening, cooking and nutritional science, provides select schools with lessons, training and funding support. Founded in 2011, Skyline and Solana Vista were among the first schools chosen to participate in grant funding since the foundation’s namesake, Sage, had attended both schools.

Sage Garden Project supports 62 schools throughout the state and they have awarded over $600,000 this year of which about $100,000 was underwritten by The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. In the region, they have supported local schools in Encinitas, Vista, Carlsbad, San Marcos and 12 schools in the San Diego Unified School District.

“We are so delighted to be able to continue supporting the Solana Beach schools, especially as we recently moved our offices into Solana Beach,” said Dawn Mayeda, program director for Sage Garden Project, which was formerly based in Encinitas. “We enjoy having a close relationship with the educators, and being able to drop in and take a look at any issues with the garden or help facilitate a lesson.”