Santa Cruz City Council Member David Terrazas surprised us all at our May Day Benefit Brunch by declaring the day Garden Classroom Day in the City of Santa Cruz. The resolution was officially proclaimed at the May 10 city council meeting. View the Mayor’s Proclamation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The City of Santa Cruz Officially Proclaims May 1 to be Garden Classroom Day in Honor of Life Lab Science Program’s Onsite Demonstration Garden Santa Cruz, CA, May 6, 2011 – At a recent Benefit Brunch Event on Sunday, May 1, 2011, Santa Cruz City Councilmember David Terrazas presented an official proclamation to the crowd, declaring May 1st to be Garden Classroom Day. This proclamation is meant to honor ten years of onsite classroom instruction at Life Lab’s Garden Classroom, located at the UCSC Farm. An official resolution of Garden Classroom Day will be presented at the next city council meeting on May 10, 2011. Funds raised at the event will help Life Lab’s ongoing efforts to promote environmental stewardship and academic excellence through garden-based learning, directly reaching thousands of students and teachers every year.

Environmental attorney and former Santa Cruz County elected official, Gary Patton, was in attendance at the Benefit and commented, “I was moved by the dual emphasis of the Life Lab approach, as illuminated in presentations by both teachers and students: Life Lab teaches a deep appreciation of the natural world, which is the ultimate support for all living things – including human beings. And Life Lab also aims to teach all involved about our ability to change our own lives – and thus to change the world for which we are responsible, the human world that we create.”

Life Lab Science Program is a non-profit organization that provides school programs, community education, and teacher professional development through a variety of projects and through the Garden Classroom, a two-acre demonstration children’s garden and education center. The Garden Classroom is a collaboration between Life Lab Science Program and the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, and is based on the UCSC Farm. Life Lab Science Program was founded in Santa Cruz in 1979.