Dedication of the Marquez Native American Garden

On May 7 we dedicated the Marquez Native American Garden.  This garden in front of school has been cleared and then planted by all of the 4th grade classes.  It is a teaching garden for lessons on Chumash and Tongva, pollinators and drought tolerant planting.

We thanked representatives from the Pacific Palisades Garden Club for their generous donations. Betsey Landis from the California Native Plant Society donated four copies of Nancy Dale's book, "Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California" to the 4th grade. These guests and Dr. Hananel each received a booklet about the garden which included some reports on the plants as well as a pressed monkeyflower done by the Kissane girls.

Many 4th grade students have researched the native plants in the garden. Twelve of them spoke at the dedication about their plants. Many of the plants in the garden have QR codes attached to the plant signs. Visitors can use the QR code app on their smart phones to access information written by the students that's posted on the Marquez website. (http://marquezcharter.org/about/learning/growing-ground-edible-garden).

The dedication concluded with tours of the garden given by 4th grade students to parents and other guests.

A California Poppy, our state flower

Some 4th grade garden tour guides

Diane Goldberg, Barbara Marinacci, Ms. Marie and Betsey Landis