Skyline, Solana Vista Students Sow the Seeds of Their Futures with Sage Garden Project, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Grant

Students attending Skyline and Solana Vista 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, which are part of the Solana Beach School District (SBSD), have been selected for the 2019-20 school year to receive more than $6,000 each to put toward gardening and nutrition education and supplies.

(Photo: The check was presented to District and school leaders by grant representatives during the Solana Vista School morning assembly at 8:35 a.m. on Friday, October 25. 2019.)

"This generous grant helps Skyline School provide gardening and cooking opportunities for all of our students throughout the year,” said Kim Pinkerton, Skyline Principal. “We’re incredibly grateful. Anne Paulsen, our garden coordinator, is excited to offer classes as well as lunch clubs for our budding gardeners and chefs!"

“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!”

The Sage Garden Project, a local charitable foundation that supports gardening, cooking and nutritional science, provides select schools with lessons, training and funding support. Both 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.

“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. “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.”