About the Project

Nature Connection: Chula Vista High School (CVHS) is an urban high school. It is one of the oldest schools in our district. Many charter schools have moved into our neighborhood due to cheaper rents, impacting our enrollment and programs. Our project, Nature Connection, is one way to revitalize and encourage families to stay at their local public school. Our goal is to increase our garden space and make it an outdoor classroom for most subjects. This project will be cross-curricular in nature and impacting over 8 subjects (Biology, English, History, Health, Social Justice in Food, Art, Photography, and Peer Mediation) and over 800 students. The garden is the opposite of our online connection to our laptops and phones. It is tangible and students can make real life connections to the world around them. The reasons we want to add garden education into our school curriculum: teamwork encourages diverse students to connect and support one another; allows struggling students to shine in an alternative learning space; growing food encourages healthier food choices; working on the land connects students to our environment and ecology; hands-on learning translates to higher test scores; attention and focus is stronger after time spent outdoors; and gardening teaches patience and persistence.