Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at Edison Middle School

  • Location
    Los Angeles, California
  • Status
    Active

The Problem

Every January on Martin Luther King Jr. Day the students at Thomas A. Edison Middle School in South Los Angeles engage in a day of service to commemorate this nationwide tradition of giving back in honor of this influential and loved public leader. This year we will expand our event for the school's 90th anniversary to the surrounding Walnut Park/Florence Firestone community by inviting families and community members. Our main goals for this project are to foster a community-wide culture of service and implement sustainable projects. In order to carry out this initiative, we wish to convert a small lot at the back of campus into a school/community garden. Community volunteers will design and implement a drought-friendly sustainable garden along with stone walkways and a fence. As part of the tradition of service, volunteers will partake in the beautification and cleaning of the main building that turns 90 this upcoming year. This project will greatly benefit the school and community with a beautiful new garden and a clean campus!

Our Plan

We will be designing a succulent and herb garden that will be sustained by the AVID class. The volunteers will receive a Gardening 101 workshop on the process and why it is important to have a drought-friendly garden. We will bring succulents and herbs from a nursery that the volunteers will plant after cleaning out the dry plants and weeds and loosening the soil. Our volunteers will also install a stone walkway and small fence to supplement the aesthetic of the garden. Concurrent to the garden project, we will have volunteers cleaning the campus as part of the beautification portion of the day. The school will be able to benefit from having a community garden and the teachers will be able to incorporate curriculum and garden visits. At the end of our day of service, we will have fostered a sense of giving among our community members and raised awareness about the importance of sustainable garden practices.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Air Pollution
  • term icon
    Community Enhancement

The Benefit

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