The Urban Oasis Project teaches horticulture students to build and maintain food gardens. Leo A. Palmiter Jr./Sr. High School and neighboring Elinor Lincoln Hickey Jr./Sr. High School are home to extensive landscaping projects, as well as an organic orchard and vegetable garden.

The garden traces its roots to the first day of spring 2000, when a ground breaking ceremony was held in the Palmiter quad, where the garden was originally located. It launched in tandem with a new nursery and landscaping course. Betty Palmiter helped students plant the program’s first tree in memory of her late husband—the school’s namesake—former County Superintendent Leo A. Palmiter. 

Nursery and landscaping instructor Kevin Jordan has significantly expanded the program, introducing indoor houseplant cultivation, aquaponics, vermiculture, and native pollinator corridors. Students engage in hands-on activities that build teamwork, an understanding of health and environmental stewardship, and vital career-technical skills.

Produce grown by students is included in many of the dishes served at the Culinary Café. When available, plants and produce are also offered for sale at the school’s farmers market and occasional employee plant sales at SCOE sites.