Emeril in the Kitchen in Pajaro Valley, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS

Emeril in the Kitchen in Pajaro Valley

By Jondi Gumz

At Starlight Elementary, Alexandro, Noemi and Kayden are rock star celebrities.

They are the Life Lab teachers who

Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez with donor recognition mosaic.

show students how to prepare their own food — healthy food.

And now the Starlight students have a brand-new state-of-the-art kitchen, complete with a garden where they can grow their own veggies.

It’s an unexpected delight, a project initiated with $500,000 from the Emeril Lagasse Foundation of New Orleans – yes, the famous chef—and made possible with more than $1.4 million raised in the farming community of Watsonville – where many people work in agriculture to feed their families.

On Nov. 17, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District hosted a ribbon-cutting for Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen at Starlight Elementary, attended by more than 150 people.

Each garden bed had the name of a local sponsor: Ow Family Properties, Driscoll’s, Superior Foods, to name a few.

The composting bin, named the Pooper Scooper, was sponsored by the Live Like Coco Foundation in memory of Coco Lazenby.

“This has been like a dream,” said Flor Garcia, a parent whose youngest is a Starlight student. “It’s an amazing opportunity.”

She expects these new resources will reduce behavior issues.

Principal Jackie Medina, who was heartily applauded, said more than 150 generous donations came from businesses, foundations and individuals.

One of the donors was the principal herself — her family sponsors a garden bed.

Her name appears on a beautiful mosaic (created by local artist Kathleen Crocetti) to honor donors.

So does the name of Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, superintendent of Pajaro Valley Unified School District, who used the plaque to honor her father, William Gibson.

Garcia said Rodriguez championed the project, and indeed Rodriguez proudly explained how the garden and kitchen is a perfect fit for the district’s mantra of whole child, whole family, whole community.

“Everything we do affects each and every one of you,” she said.

The Pajaro Valley district, with 19,000

Brynden, 9, checks out the Life Lab table. students, is the largest in Santa Cruz County, and students who come from less than affluent homes often struggle with learning. Rodriguez plans to expand the Life Lab outdoor learning program to every elementary school in the district by 2024. Starlight is one of five schools in the nation chosen by the Emeril Lagasse Foundation for the culinary garden kickstart grant. It is the only one located in a rural community. How did the New Orleans foundation learn about Starlight and Pajaro Valley Unified? Aisling Mitchell, who traveled to Watsonville with foundation president Brian Kish, had the answer: Life Lab, based in Santa Cruz, made the introduction. Life Lab started 43 years ago, said Don Burgett, co-director of Life Lab. Added Judit Camacho, Life Lab codirector, “These are the seeds of change. We create possibilities for children in the future.” n