Jeremiah Rufus, Illan Vargas, Olivia McConaghy

ENGR 110
Design Reflection #2
5/17/22

Design Review: Reflection #2

School gardens are an up and coming phenomena throughout many areas of our country
that value sustainability and hands-on learning. The ability to grow one’s knowledge of science
both inside and outside of the classroom is unsurpassed as students who learn the lifecycle of
vegetation and so much more simply by being able to have to opportunity to view it and interact
with it face to face are able to be educated as a whole and truly broaden their educational
experience. California is our country’s fifth greenest and most sustainably conscious state as
schools similar to St. Leo the Great are beginning to teach their students from a young age what
it means to be sustainable (Kiernan, 2022). To encourage the implementation of hands-on
learning through school gardens, California's legislature passed a code to help support schools
who wish to implement this form of education. Cal. Educ. Code § 51795–51797 recognizes the
importance of school gardens to a student’s education and “calls for the establishment of an
advisory committee and permits school districts to apply for grants of up to $2,500 ‘per school
site’ to create school gardens. Large schools which educate more than 1,000 students may
receive grants of up to $5,000. Within six months of spending a grant, the appropriate
educational body must submit a report to the Superintendent regarding how the money was
allocated” (Shinkle, n.d.). This is also supported by another code that allows schools to sell and
distribute their grown goods to the community upon proper health and safety approval. The role
of public policy throughout our state of California is one that supports and encourages this use of
outdoor education through gardening, which helps to instill the importance and benefits of
numerous values within the students as they complete their education.

Nutrition is a crucial benefit when it comes to civic engagement and issues within
communities. Our planter boxes directly facilitate the need for nutrition within the human daily
diet and allow for the consumption and education of a sustainable environment. Community
gardens lower the cost of produce and increase the access by the community to learn and accept
the need for healthy and organic food. Planter boxes are one way residents have mobilized to
beautify urban neighborhoods or low-income communities. For St. Leo, it teaches the students
the importance of growing fresh produce and provides opportunities for constructive activities,
and contributions to the community through the parish and improved nutrition. Teachers could
further enhance students' interpersonal skill development and behavioral competence with
planter boxes as they become educated to foster a caring altruistic mindset. Community gardens
promote developmental assets for involved youth while improving their access to and
consumption of healthy foods.
When it comes to rules and regulations to follow when it comes to our design there are
few factors to consider. Since the team is designing an outdoor garden center one thing to be
weary of is the water that each plant would need. This is due to San Jose’s Water Utility service
(San Jose Water) as they established a policy to keep water waste low and managed. For
instance,
“Under its updated Rule 14.1 Water Shortage Contingency Plan, SJW is aligning
this plan with its 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, and activating Stage 3 of
its Water Shortage Contingency Plan. Mandatory water use restrictions under this
plan focus on outdoor water use, which accounts for half of the average
household's total use” (“sjwater,” 2020)
Due to the fact that California has a lot the use of outdoor water has been limited by California
policy to reduce waste of potable water. This means that the plants and crops desired for the
outdoor garden center can’t need a lot of water on a frequent basis to adhere to the water use
policy that San Jose has established.
The other policy that must be looked at is the urban agriculture policy of San Jose. This
policy isn’t much of a problem as it states in their policy for a small outside garden center such
as the one the team is design for the school, “The zoning code allows for any property in the city
to be zoned for agriculture, which would allow small-scale agriculture…Existing small-scale
operations, such as Veggielution, are located on either public land or land owned by non-profit
organizations” (Schultz & Sichley, 2020). Essentially the outside garden itself is allowed in
public and non profiting organizations such as St. Leo the Great School, but looking up the
policy for agriculture is beneficial as some states or cities may have had different rules if this
project were to be implemented at other locations.
 References:

Douglas Shinkle, L. T. (n.d.). State Statutes and Programs Concerning Community Gardens.
State statutes and programs concerning community gardens. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from
https://www.ncsl.org/research/agriculture-and-rural-development/community-gardens-state-statut
es-and-programs.aspx

Header. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.sjwater.com/water-use-restrictions

Kiernan, J. S. (2022, April 13). 2022's greenest states. WalletHub. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from
https://wallethub.com/edu/greenest-states/11987

Schultz, A., & Sichley, S. (n.d.). Emergency notification: Covid-19. Retrieved May 16, 2022,
from https://www.sjsu.edu/urbanplanning/