Marquez Partners With EnrichLA, Celebrates ‘New and Improved’ Garden

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

Marquez Charter Elementary School celebrated the unveiling of its new and improved Marquez Garden on Friday morning, November 3, with an official ribbon cutting ceremony.

The Friends of Marquez and Marquez staff announced the school’s partnership with EnrichLA to renovate the garden space. Friends of Marquez is a nonprofit organization run by parents to fund supplemental educational programs to enrich the curriculum of basic education offered to students at the school.

“EnrichLA will provide a six-week, STEM-based Garden Ranger program for all grades on campus,” Friends of Marquez President Caitlin Machol said to the Palisadian-Post. “This project has been in the works for a year, thanks to some incredible staff members and parents. Through various funding from grants and our parent organization, Friends of Marquez, we were able to see all the plans come to life this week.”

EnrichLA builds and takes care of gardens across Los Angeles. The program has created over 200 gardens in nine years, according to its website.

“Our garden is organic and regenerative, built to live in harmony with plants, animals and the environment,” Machol added. “It offers a space for, not only gardening and environmental studies, but also a space for outdoor learning and art. We are so proud to be the only school in Pacific Palisades offering this program.”

Through the Garden Ranger program, a trained garden teacher will visit the school each week to engage the students, and the Garden Rangers will be tasked with maintaining the garden space. The program will provide place-based learning, covering topics such as nutrition, healthy living, gardening and environmental stewardship.

“We think that every child in every school in this city ought to experience the joy of growing, harvesting, preparing and eating simple whole foods,” according to EnrichLA. “These garden classes help students establish an immediate connection between the process of growing fruits and vegetables and consuming these foods in our outdoor kitchens.

“With these gardens, the classroom is given local focus, tangible results and involvement in inquiry-based education.”