FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
CONTACT: ANAKAREN UREÑO
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT
949-497-7700 EXT. 5232

September 25, 2026

Thurston Middle School receives $5,000 Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation grant for learning garden

Grant will support outdoor learning, nutrition education and student engagement

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. – Thurston Middle School has received a $5,000 grant from the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation to support the continued development of the Thurston Learning Garden, an outdoor learning space designed to connect students with environmental literacy, nutrition, wellness, and hands-on learning.

The grant will support several improvements to the garden, including decomposed granite to improve an underused area of the space, additional storage shelving, and seeds, seedlings, and soil amendments for student lessons. The funding will help expand the garden's capacity to serve as an instructional resource across grade levels and subject areas. 

The Thurston Learning Garden already includes a 12-by-12 greenhouse, 10 garden beds, drip irrigation, a garden shed, and an outdoor amphitheater overlooking Laguna Canyon. The garden is used by multiple grade levels and content areas and also supports mindfulness and wellness activities, Junior Master Gardeners, and student leadership programs.    

During the 2026–27 school year, the school plans to expand consistent access to the garden through “Learning Garden Mondays” and integrate garden-based learning into classroom instruction across subjects. Planned lessons may include environmental science, biodiversity, soil health, water cycles, sustainability, food systems, social studies, wellness, and civic engagement. The program also connects to the district's environmental literacy work and California's State Seal of Civic Engagement pathway.

“We are excited to have the support of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation as we continue building the Thurston Learning Garden into a meaningful part of the middle school experience,” said LBUSD Coordinator of Environmental Literacy Gloria Harwood. “This investment will help us create more consistent opportunities for students to learn outdoors, connect classroom concepts to real-world challenges, and develop a deeper understanding of food, health, and the environment,” she concluded.

The garden will also expand opportunities for students to connect growing food with nutrition education. Students will be able to use produce grown in the garden in Young Chefs Club activities and explore topics including nutrition, food systems, cultural food traditions, plant biology, and sustainability.  

The program has established goals for its first year of implementation, including having every Thurston teacher facilitate at least one garden-based lesson and providing every student with at least six outdoor learning experiences in the garden during the school year. Student, staff, and parent feedback, along with participation and curriculum integration data, will be used to evaluate the program and guide future development.

The grant is part of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation's Sprouting School Gardens program, which supports school garden programs that connect nutrition education with hands-on learning. Grant funds may be used for garden features, tools and supplies, educator stipends, cooking materials, and other direct program costs.

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