Central California Conference
VHM Science Project
Grows Into Community Service By Jason Mustard
W
hat started as a class science project has bloomed into a full-grown community service ministry at Virgil Hauselt Memorial (VHM) Christian School in Santa Cruz, Calif., with students and teachers transforming their overgrown and unused garden into a thriving green space of organic vegetables to be shared with their surrounding community. The project is spearheaded by VHM’s third- and fourth-grade teacher, Jovinia Mustard. “Our first science unit was on plants and plant cells,” explained Mrs. Mustard. “The curriculum called for a more hands-on approach, and I thought ‘what better way than getting our hands dirty in the school garden?’” However, the school garden had been neglected for several years, and the nine 8- by 4-foot garden boxes were full of depleted soil and
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overgrown with weeds. “We had a lot of needs and a lot of work to do at the beginning,” said Mrs. Mustard. “But my students were excited for the project, and the support we received from our VHM parents and the local Adventist community made it all possible.” That support came in the form of a couple of Sunday work bees, with classroom parents and grandparents helping Mrs. Mustard clear the larger weeds, some of which had grown
several feet tall, and a large donation of organic soil and vegetable starter plants from HP Green Vivarium, an organic nursery housed on the campus of Monterey Bay Academy. The nursery is owned and operated by Heber Perez, a local church member whose two children both graduated from VHM. “Mr. Perez was awesome,” said Amie Rasor, VHM parent and Parent Teacher Organization president, as Perez donated organic soil and many starter
