School-Based Community Garden
Vision
Our vision for the PAHS school-based community garden is to create a beautiful, wildlife friendly, purposefully designed retreat and outdoor classroom for our students, staff, and our local community to enjoy. The garden is designed as a teaching garden, showcasing sustainable gardening methods, wildlife friendly gardening ideas, and a place to grow fresh produce for students and our local community- promoting healthy lifestyles and positive nutritional habits long-term.
Our community volunteers are vital to the upkeep and longevity of the garden, as they help us to steward the space and manage the permanent installations.
Mission
School gardens cultivate an ethic of stewardship for the whole community. They help to build an awareness of environmental interconnectedness and appreciation of local food systems and promote the transfer of indigenous knowledge through place-based educational opportunities for all ages.
The garden also serves to promote wellness through nutrition education, community building opportunities for clubs and community groups, and by providing therapeutic gardening activities for all ages.
Our garden also serves as an outdoor classroom for our Native Studies program, where students will learn traditional uses for native plants, empowering students to explore food sovereignty issues with hands-on gardening activities. Science classrooms have access to studying soils, nutrient cycles, food webs, ecological concepts, weather, and climate resilience.
Who We Are
The PAHS School-based Community Garden is an outdoor classroom located on the Port Angeles High School campus, in the heart of Lower Elwha Klallam territory, in Port Angeles, Washington. The garden is enjoyed by high school classes, school clubs, and the local community. The garden was designed for mix-use, educational purposes and spans a large city lot next to the high school gym. It has a greenhouse, an outdoor classroom area with tables, a traditional plants garden, raised beds, a fenced in chicken coop, an orchard, and several permanent demonstration garden areas. We are managed by a small council of educators, community members, neighbors, and district employees. The garden is maintained entirely by volunteers and has begun a yearly plant sale each spring that allows us a modest budget for purchasing supplies and soils each year.
Thanks to our volunteers and community partners!
The garden is the result of many hundreds of volunteer hours from college students, neighbors, educators and their families, students, and friends. We owe our thanks and gratitude to our many volunteers, and to our financial sponsors and supporters for helping us to realize this unique space.
The PAHS garden was created for the use and enjoyment of students, staff, and our local community through generous donations by several local partners, including:
- Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
- Willard Muller Foundation via Kiwanis of Port Angeles
- OSPI-Healthy Schools Grant
- Hartnagels Lumber
- Safeway
- Port Angeles Education Foundation
- Port Angeles School District
- WSU Extension
We Thank You For Your Support!