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As a volunteer and parent of the Harmony Union School District, Victoria had run the first School wide Garden program for Kindergarten through 5th grade students teaching organic gardening, cooking the garden space and nutrition. This program transpired into a highly successful ambitious project teaching students, teachers and greater community, the responsibility of land stewardship on fifty acre piece of watershed between a creek and a redwood forest. Thanks to Victoria's relentless persistence and energetic enthusiasm, she was able to raise a grant of $1.2 million from the California Coastal Conservancy and consistently attracted donors to make this $4 million green school project, a dream come true. We were later guided to the Observation Deck to view the Salmon Creek Falls. We also visited a straw bale greenhouse and discovered the Outdoor Garden Space where gorgeous herbs, vegetables, native plants, flowers and fruit trees were delivering fragrant scents in the early evening breeze. Not far from us, kids were playing, laughing and enjoying life in this unique place. What a dream for a child to be in a school surrounded by the majestic redwood forest, a structure allowing them to experience nature in the classroom! Learning exactly how Victoria raised funds and managed the creation of the Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center within her community was very insightful and educational. I received a great deal of wisdom from Victoria who shared a unique philosophy in life full of spontaneity and confidence. ”Ask for Pie in the Sky, visualize it and it will be brought to you if you really want it!” Victoria says with a smile. Our visit was a very inspirational day for anyone who has dreams they want to see manifest. I believe cultivating an idea and making it successfully grow comes from a place of strong commitment to preserve and educate our environmental consciousness and is rooted deeply in early life. Victoria’s background reinforces this as her father was one of the first people in the county to use solar hot water system and her mother had a passion for gardening, arts and crafts and living in harmony with nature. Victoria says she owes her “joie de vivre” and dedication to our environment to her nurturing and trusting parents allowing her to follow her heart from birth.
Likewise, in my experience, as a professional educator with many years teaching young children from diverse socio-economic and academic backgrounds, as well as being raised by a strong environmentalist father in France, there is no doubt in my mind that the building foundation of trust in yourself and of your convictions starts as early as possible in life. This inspirational and informative visit has convinced me even more that environmental education should be implemented in schools as early as kindergarten and be sustained throughout elementary grades and high school.
Following this wonderful visit at the Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center, we were graciously invited at Michael and Victoria’s eco-house that they designed and built together in 1997, before green building was on the radar. The house is an absolute wonder from both aesthetic and eco-building standpoints, perched majestically above the clouds and surrounded by centennial redwoods in the beautiful Sonoma hills. There, in this peaceful and beautiful environment, we made a toast to green education, new friendship and celebration of life.
For more information about the Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center (or if you would like a tour or professional consulting) send an email to Victoria:
| Greenlight Consulting |
| Victoria Johnston, LEED AP mvraj@sonic.net or call 707 874-2546 If you want to learn more about Harmony Elementary and |