CELEBRATE THE EARTH: AUTHOR VISIT AT ECOLE BILINGUE, Berkeley, CA

Ecole Bilingue School Garden, Berkeley, CA

A week ago on Tuesday I had a terrific visit with the kindergarten, first, and second graders at Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California. This was my second visit this year—the first was in March when I presented my book, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT, to the upper grades, a good fit for studies of California history, and in particular, women’s history.

The main focus of my presentation this time was my book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, timed to coordinate with Earth Month and Earth Day. Ecole Bilingue has long had an extensive school garden, including a pair of chickens, who wander freely among the planting boxes. At night and on rainy days they go into a coop where they have nest boxes.

One of the school chickens.

Learning about the plants in the garden and how they grow is part of the school curriculum. The garden also is home to a tortoise. 

Tortoise in the school garden.

Ecole Bilingue is a bilingual school where children learn in both French and English. (I don’t speak French so my presentation was in English.) I have a special connection to EB because my granddaughter Paige was a student there from pre-school through middle school. It is always a pleasure to visit EB and see many of her former teachers and meet the new staff as well. I especially thank Emily Kaltenbach, the English Program coordinator for arranging my visit and making sure that everything ran smoothly. 

Ecole Bilingue, Berkeley, CA.