Curious tourists, plant lovers, hikers and wedding couples aren’t the only people who find their way to the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden.
This fall, the Catalina Island Conservancy turned Anita Rockwell’s Avalon High School graphic design class loose with chalkboard signs and paint in the historic garden.
“The first thing we did was learn about the plants,” said Jose Reyes, a senior at the high school.
Curious tourists, plant lovers, hikers and wedding couples aren’t the only people who find their way to the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden.
This fall, the Catalina Island Conservancy turned Anita Rockwell’s Avalon High School graphic design class loose with chalkboard signs and paint in the historic garden.
“The first thing we did was learn about the plants,” said Jose Reyes, a senior at the high school.
Under the NatureWorks program, the joint environmental education program of the Conservancy and Avalon Schools, nature-themed lessons, like this one, are finding their way into all parts of the curriculum.
“I asked students to use layout, color, illustration and calligraphy skills to provide more information for garden visitors,” Rockwell said.
An important component of NatureWorks is workforce development, so the Conservancy provided the class with specifications and a schedule for the job.
Students first drafted designs for review.
Jerod Long, a junior at the high school, described how he and classmate Sabrina Sanchez, a senior, met with Conservancy staff and “took detailed notes on the improvements that needed to be made on the signs.”
Joanna Chavoya, a senior, said: “We helped each other and soon finished our boards.”
Rockwell said: “This project reinforced classroom lessons about design and what it means to be a graphic designer — it made their learning real.”
The “client” and “design firm”—the Conservancy—enjoyed the official installation at the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden on Nov. 20.
“We were requested to make bold, eye-catching signs in a specific amount of time, and we delivered,” said Lana Brown, a junior at the high school.
Lively chalkboard creations in two sizes point out plants found only on Catalina Island.
“They asked us for bold and bright colors,” said Gabriela Hernandez, a senior.
The class’s signs help ensure visitors can learn about Island Cherry, the beautiful endemic succulent Catalina Liveforever and the giant St. Catherine’s Lace.
Vicente Osgeueda, a junior, explained that the students added “some facts and some artwork to attract the attention of the tourists that visit the garden.”
Designs show, for example, that Santa Catalina Manzanita berries and Island Cherries are favorite foods of the Catalina Island fox.
The signs encourage garden visitors to touch and smell aromatic black, white and pitcher sages.
The students’ signs also explain how the native Tongva used plants, like Scrub Oak acorns for food and Yerba Santa to treat colds.
NatureWorks, funded in part by a generous grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, builds on existing educational programs to bring island-themed lessons to all grade levels.
It seeks to instill ecological literacy and an ethic of environmental stewardship by providing instruction to Catalina students in the classroom, in the field and in job-related training, such as the chalkboard signs for the garden.
“Not everyone realizes how special and unique our plants are, but now I do,” said Cristian Martinez, a senior.
You can visit the garden from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to see the plant collection, the memorial and the students’ beautiful signs.
Channing Barrios, a junior, hopes “that many visitors enjoy the signs just as much as we did making them.”
The Conservancy and Avalon Schools are seeking Island businesses and other members of the community to partner with them in NatureWorks.
If you’re interested, contact Brooke Gebow at 310-510-0954 or bgebow@catalinaconservancy.org.
Thank you to the students who made the beautiful signs and their teacher Anita Rockwell. Conservancy staffers helping with this project, Liz Bailey, Murray Crow, Jorge Hernandez, Alexa Johnson, Anne Kelly, John Mack, Kevin Ryan, Mr. Z and myself, look forward to future similar partnerships.
For more information, visit CatalinaConservancy.org.
Brooke Gebow is the Catalina Island Conservancy’s director of education.