E.C. Reems Academy of Arts and Technology is centrally located at 8425 MacArthur Boulevard,. Oakland, CA. With a plethora of liquor stores, lack of safe grocery stores within walking distance and limited economic activity. Principle Lisa Blair is more than ready to lead the way toward developing a green economy for her school and surrounding community. In February 2006, conversations about building the Bay Area's first green rooftop garden for a school began with OFC founder and director, Jason A. Harvey, on how OFC could make this happen. Later on that year, we contacted Bay Localize, for logistical support and technical assistance. A partnership currently exists between all three organizations to support the growth of this project.
OFC and Bay Localize broke ground with this amazing new project July 2007 The initial phase of seven garden beds and composting system took six weeks to install. Six high school students and four local community volunteers built one garden bed each week and hauled 15 yards of compost up two flights of stairs to the rooftop of E.C. Reems. Completed on August 17th 2007, the initial phase will lead into a school year of further garden expansion and development.
Students from Unity High School will teach courses on garden development to K-8 students. Upon completion, August 2007, this new garden will consist of a drip watering system, composting system (vermiculture, compost tea), green house, 35 garden beds and 20 hanging herb beds. Students will be encouraged to learn how to prepare simple, nutritious meals from the food they grew. Every week, food bags will also be distributed to student participant to share with their families.
Encouraging only the healthiest eating habits to sustain optimal health!