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One of the lowest-performing schools in LAUSD, Samuel Gompers Middle School, opened two new learning gardens this week.
The gardens were installed with a grant from a non-profit called Kitchen Community and are intended to help fight childhood obesity and diabetes. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, who is strong proponent of linking nutrition and education, was on hand to unveil the new gardens. Student nutrition is a big issue for LAUSD: According to a 2011 UCLA Health Research study, 41 percent of 5th, 7th, and 9th graders in LA county are clinically obese or overweight.
Learning gardens serve as outdoor classrooms that encourage students to eat more fruit and vegetables and to play more often outdoors.
Kitchen Community and LAUSD plan to plant three more gardens this year in low-performing schools across the district.