[Pollinator] Kids Play Pollinator

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(http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2010/10/27/news/)  
HEAL grows back after funding famine
By Mark Noack [ _mark at hmbreview.com_ (mailto:mark at hmbreview.com)   ]

Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010 -  12:17:15 pm PDT  
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With mud-caked boots and a sunbaked face, farm instructor Chris  
Beetley-Hagler cupped his hands to his face and sounded off his self-devised owl  
call: “Oooooty-Oop!”

Two dozen replies hooted back:  “Oooooty-Oop!”

Of course, no owls were around on a sunny Wednesday  morning. Instead, it 
was an entire class of Hatch Elementary fourth-graders, out  to visit 
Cabrillo Farms for the day.      
 

Hatch Elementary School students from Melinda Nokes'  fourth grade class 
visit the Heal / County Farm in El Granada for an  all-day Outside Science Lab 
learning about pumpkin pollination with  instructor Chris Beetley-Hagler. 


Habitually kicking at weeds with his  boot as he talked, Beetley-Hagler 
taught the students an exercise about the  birds and the bees, choosing a few 
student volunteers to play the role of  pollinators. Getting their 
instructions, the pollinator-students raced across  the dirt field to grab two 
classmates (representing the male and female pollen).  The teams of students were 
working together to hoist pumpkins, trying to be the  first to carry it 
across the farm field.

“Come on you guys, we’ve got to  create this pumpkin!” he cheered. “We’ve 
got to save Halloween!”

It was a  lesson for both the students and the farm instructor, who was 
testing out  material for the first time with a full group of visitors.

Out on a field  trip, the students were the first crop of young visitors at 
the donated Moss  Beach farmland, now being run by the Coastside HEAL 
project. HEAL, an acronym  for health, environment, agriculture and learning, is 
running a hands-on  laboratory on the donated farmland to teach students 
about sustainable and  healthy practices.

The HEAL program has been available to the Coastside  schools for years, 
but the program is rapidly expanding this year with more  funding, new staff 
and promises of more cropland from local farmers. Today the  program is 
poised to invite schools across San Mateo County for Coastside field  trips, 
thanks to a $75,000 grant from the county health system.

That’s  good news for HEAL organizers, especially because at this time last 
year the  local program faced major budget reductions and had to pull back 
its operations  at Coastside schools. After that low point, the agriculture 
nonprofit has  bounced back and reports newfound success in winning 
competitive grants and  local contributions.

“I don’t want to give the impression we’re flush  with cash … but the 
idea of what we’re doing seems to be lifting off,” said Kim  Borick, HEAL 
executive director. “So many people now support our idea at  HEAL.”

Late last year, the nonprofit won a $25,000 grant from the David  & Lucille 
Packard Foundation. This year, Moss Beach farmer David Lea donated  two 
acres of farmland for the program, and more farmers along the South Coast  are 
reportedly offering land for HEAL for similar education  projects.

Wearing an “I ♥ the Farm” cap, Hatch teacher Melinda Nokes said  the 
program tied in perfectly with her class studies in life  science.

“This is absolutely connected to our curriculum, and it gives  the kids a 
chance to appreciate where they live,” Nokes said, as she chomped on  an 
apple. “It makes their education experiential.”

The HEAL project  originally started at Hatch in 2005 and later expanded to 
Farallone View and El  Granada elementary schools. Over those years, 
successive classes of students  have learned the basics of agriculture by taking 
classes with HEAL instructors  and caring for crops planted in sections of 
the schoolyard.

A parent on  the field trip, Cindy Chong, recalled that her daughter was 
inspired to plant  pumpkins, herbs and other plants after learning the 
know-how at  Hatch.

Those programs in place at local schools remain on shaky funding,  said 
Borick.

HEAL has received new funding this year, but most of that  money can only 
go toward the new farm projects open to the entire county, not  individual 
schools. Now operating on a budget of about $250,000, HEAL can use  less than 
half that amount for local school programs. For local school projects,  HEAL 
remains reliant on donations from PTOs, parents or other community members. 
 




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