REP distributes $72K in grants to local schools
Judson & Brown Elementary’s garden comes back to life with the help of a $500 Redlands Educational Partnership grant, fostering collaboration and honoring a beloved teacher’s legacy.
BY DAVID JAMES HEISS
In the fenced-in enclosure that is home to Judson & Brown Elementary School’s garden, the ebbing remnants of pumpkin vines and fading sunflower stalks, along with a couple of ripening orange trees, stand out in this open space that shows promise for spring planting.
Former teacher Cari Tosso Ramirez used to love working with her students as they would plant, nurture and observe the efforts of their hard work thrive and come to fruition, before she passed away during the pandemic.
For a couple of years, fellow kindergarten teachers note, the school’s garden languished in Ramirez’s absence, during a time when the school was devoid of students to maintain it.
Teachers describe that period when no one was on campus, explaining that weeds grew waist-high before classes could get back to taking care of things.
This spring, kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students will team up with fifth-graders to work on planting an herb garden.