Students at Leo A. Palmiter High School in Sacramento broke ground for their new Gourmet Garden on Monday, March 20—the first day of spring. Students will plant and maintain the 2,500-square-foot garden, which is situated in the campus quad. Some of the produce grown will be used to make food for the school's Culinary Program.
Instructor Carl Curtis, who helped welcome attendees of a ground breaking ceremony, has enrolled 20 Palmiter students in his new ROP Nursery, Grounds, and Landscape class. Curtis says, "Already the students are learning that gardens offer beautiful, dynamic settings where all school disciplines integrate with the senses. Science, math, nutrition, health, reading, and the environment are experienced by students using their hands while cultivating and harvesting in the school garden."
Special guests at the ceremony included family members of the school's namesake, Leo A. Palmiter, who served as Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools from 1968 to 1980. Betty Palmiter, the late superintendent's wife, helped students plant the Gourmet Garden's first tree in his memory. The former superintendent died in January 2000.