Educational School Gardens

The Educational School Gardens that the Los Robles Foundation has developed puts students in contact with nature, work with soils and the information necessary for a healthy diet. The project is based on theoretical-practical divisions, which embrace the meaning of the educational orchard, from the preparation of the soils, soil maintenance, cultivation, adequate care, etc., until harvest time. Excited by the school based project, the students transfer their knowledge to their homes by creating "Special Orchards" which modify the lives of those in the family, establishing the importance of work, and helping to generate an active consciousness of ones own capabilities to ameliorate their own quality of life taking notice of the importance of an organic and healthy diet. The " Educational School Orchards" activities that we provide allow nature to act as the principal teacher: the student experiments and lives with the changes that nature produces throughout the four annual seasons, therefore enabling an exact understanding of the ecological equilibrium while exercising patience, an important step in relieving oneself of the anxiety that brings on alcoholism, drug addiction and delinquency. In the Los Robles Foundation, we promote the use of the school orchard as a learning space that works to construct respect, community, affection as well as forming social and cultural integration.

Beneficiaries

• Low resourced public schools
• Low resourced public institutions that can be homes or boarding schools for children and adolescents
• Institutions for the disabled
• Institutions for people with addiction problems, among others

Objectives

1. To construct an orchard in the institution from the commencement of the soil preperation until a harvest.
2. To transmit a working culture of the earth in order to obtain a clear consciousness of the possibility of supplying food for oneself (of great importance in moments of crisis ).
3. To transmit fundamental values for the balanced development of children and adolescents for a better quality of life:
   • Respect for nature.
   • Respect for work.
   • Teamwork.
   • Responsibility, organization.
   • In addition, to exercise the virtue of patience, which is an important factor in relieving oneself of the anxiety that brings on alcoholism, drug addiction and delinquency in a status of social marginalization.

Duration

This project lasts two academic years
A total time of 20 months.

Work Setup

1. An agronomic technician of the Los Robles Foundation personally travels to teach the above mentioned projects one (1) day a week at each institution for a duration of four (4) hours for each weekly visit. During this time the construction of the educational orchards aswell as group education for the students and/or adolescents who participate in said project, is carried out.
2. The director of each institution will name a representative of the school (the most likely being the Biology teacher) to actively participate with the agronomic technician until the end of the annual project, enabling the representative to follow through with the educational project in the next year, making the project self-renewing.

Creation of the Fruit and Vegetable Garden and Tools Provision

A complete fruit and vegetable garden –boundary wire, organic earth, seeds,  vegetable patches made of wood, painting, mini-greenhouse, trellis, etc. -  is created inside the school building.

A complete Kit of basic tools needed to work on the garden is given to each of the schools or institutions.

Amount Requested:

The cost per school is that of U$S 4.100 for the 20 months in which the program takes place (two academic years).

Total amount required for 3 schools is that of U$D 12.300 for the 20 months in which the program takes place. (two academic years)

Total amount required for 5 schools is that of U$D 20.500 for the 20 months in which the program takes place. (two academic years)

The Los Robles Foundation Mission:

To obtain a perspective based on one's own ability to ameliorate their quality of life, to obtain respect for the environment, the generation of a source of income, and access to proper living conditions.

The Los Robles Foundation Vision:

The school orchard practices, that we include, allow nature to act as the greatest teacher. The work builds respect, community, and in effect, forms social and cultural integration. This is our principle message.

The Los Robles Foundation:

was founded by Agronomic Engineers Jorge Córdova and Alberto Punte in 2002, understanding the necessity of finding new forms of learning that incorporate education, a work ethic and knowledge. The resulting educational activities generated from the educational farms or the school gardens are geared towards children or youth while incorporating elements of environmental studies enabling them to make informed decisions.

It's from this perspective that different types of activities and workshops were created, by introducing the child or youth to experience and appropriation with their surrounding environment, including:

1. Taking a role in the development of the area in which they live.
2. Total protection of the natural world.
3. Activities that stimulate intellectual thought. These activities of relating to nature as well as using it as a medium of expression also deduce "observation, spiritual criticism, knowledge. thus allowing human beings to understand, love and protect their environment."