‘Pioneers’ help grow Immaculate Conception garden
Radishes. Lettuce. Marigolds. Peppers. Cucumbers. Zucini. Cabbage. Tomatoes.
The garden at Immaculate Conception School on Avenue B seems to have a little bit of everything, and students, teachers and administrators like it like that.
“We have a real smorgasbord of different things so the kids can see how it all looks,” explained the head gardener, teacher Terri Zacher. “So they can see the different textures and colors and how the tops are different — some are more tubers, some grow on top, so they can see all that.”
In planting, students and teachers didn’t forget the bees and the bugs, either, especially so students could see the
connection between pollination and plant growth.
“We have flowers here to help encourage the bees that come and other bugs,” said Zacher, who teaches second grade at the private Catholic school.
Principal Lydia Mendoza said that the school garden was started with a grant about four to five years ago, and every year, it takes a bit of funding to get fall planting started.
The Pioneer Title Agency, which has more than 600 employees statewide, was looking for a school to support through its Old School Philanthropy initiative, said Rick Mires, the Yuma County manager for Pioneer agencies here.
The company’s owners, the Newlon family, wanted to support not only its own employees with school-age children, but also the greater education com- munity, Mires said.
“(Mr. Newlon) wants all us employees to help any way we can, whether it’s through a mentoring program or any support that we can give schools, because a lot of our employees have children that are going to schools, such as Maria.”
Maria Tirado, who works as an escrow officer in the local Yuma Pioneer office, reached out to the vice principal at Immaculate Conception School, Gus Trujillo.
Trujillo explained that the heat takes a toll on the soil and tools, even if they are stored properly. Mendoza noted that buying seeds is another hurdle.
“Pioneer helped with seed purchases, and some of the upgrades we needed to do such as new watering cans, soaker hoses, shovels, rakes,” Mendoza said.
Mires, Karen Ferguson and Tirado not only helped with funds for the garden, but also joined students and teachers in sprucing up the planter boxes and tilling the soil.
The trio was checking out the fruits of their labors on Wednesday at the school’s campus on Avenue B.
“It’s very green,” Mires noted.
Mendoza noted the next step is to have the garden certified through the Arizona Department of Health Services School Garden Program and Green Fund, so that the food can be served in the cafeteria.