A partnership between the Burbank Community Day School and the Burbank Senior Artists Colony has created a garden to grow vegetables and trees but more importantly a garden that will grow a stronger feeling of community in that neighborhood.
The Community Day School and the adjacent Senior Artists Colony have been working together as partners for years on intergenerational projects between CDS students and the creative seniors that live next door. They have created art projects, films, a mural painting, and other collaborative ventures such as giving students the opportunity to learn guitar. In addition, the partnership has provided the seniors time to develop relationships with the students and time to mentor them.
The seniors and students are working together vigorously to produce a beautiful garden paradise. This project includes active collaboration between students, seniors, Master’s students from the landscape architecture school at UCLA, TreePeople, master gardener Sharon Springer and staff from EngAGE. Working together, this team is produceing a comprehensive project that includes a learning center, fruit tree orchards, raised gardening beds, a tortoise garden for the school’s pet tortoise Kobe, a bio retention swell, social center, benches, paths, trails, a memorial rose garden, storage and tools sheds and a work area.
“These students sometimes just need to know that someone cares about them,” said Chris Krohn, administrator of the Community Day School. “That can be all it takes to get them to focus and get their lives back on track.”
The Community Day School provides an alternative classroom environment in which students work to improve behavior, attendance and academic performance. In addition to the Community Day School, the site also houses the New Vista program, an alternative program for Special Education students.
“I don’t consider it work at all,” said Teddi Shattuck, a resident of the Artists Colony that spearheads the project there. “It’s a labor of love.”
(Above) Principal Chris Krohn addresses members of the community who came for the dedication while (below L to R)) Eduardo Ricalday, James Scheckles, Narek Margaryan, Sisuan Sarhadyan, Bryan Dector, and Jesse Showalter get together to cut the ribbon to officially open the garden. (Photos By Ross A. Benson)
