Transforming Asphalt Schoolyard into Green Oasis Life Frames and San Miguel Community Come Together

San Francisco, CA, Earth Day, 2006 - Life Frames, Inc. and A Living Library announce today the planting of 200 California native trees and the development of two new “Learning Zones” as part of the OMI / Excelsior Living Library & Think Park at the San Miguel Child Development Center in southwest San Francisco.      The Learning Zones are now filled with a variety of native species of trees including Redwoods, Redbuds, several varieties of Oaks, Buckeyes, Ceanothus, Big Leaf Maples Bay Laurel, Toyon, and others.

• These trees were funded by a grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 
• Ten students from Iowa’s Grinnell College provided the manual labor as part of the college’s “alternative break” program which has been sending students to various locations in the US to assist with community projects since 1995.  (Quotes available)

This work in progress is a result of the OMI/Excelsior Living Library & Think Park Master Plan(Plan), funded by the Mayor’s Office of Community Development, Ford Foundation, Flow Fund, Potrero Nuevo Fund, and others.  The Plan also includes the three adjacent public schools (PreK-12), with contiguous schoolyards, and neighboring streets in southwest San Francisco, including James Denman Middle School and Balboa High School.

This area incorporates nearly nine (9) acres of asphalt and concrete where the Islais Creek once flowed. This plan is an example of  A Living Library integrating local resources to transform the community into a vibrant, content-rich, ecological learning landscape;  a Branch Living Library in this diverse San Francisco community is now linked to the others already created.

Marianne Bertuccelli, Park Supervisor from San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, who facilitated the Department’s participation, says, “It has been a very satisfying experience to be a part of the transformation of an asphalt schoolyard into a beautiful garden, that is another Branch Living Library and future new community park.”

Aurora Hernandez, Lead Teacher at San Miguel says, “My students are very excited about the transformation that's happening in our yard. They are eager to go and work, collecting rocks, spreading soil and planting trees and seeds. We brought out books to our new Redwood Reading Circle and all the students were overwhelmingly joyous.”

“The more asphalt we can get rid of in our schoolyards and the more green our children can see, play, learn, and work on, will be better for all,” says Mohammed Nuru, Deputy Director of Operations for San Francisco’s Department of Public Works.

The whole two week event was a collaborative effort. Catarino Mendoza from Catmex Maintenance and his crew sawed the asphalt. SF Department of Public Works lifted the asphalt and took it away. The SF Recreation and Park Department delivered 30 cubic yards of soil. Guastucci Tree Service delivered mulch. Dennis Long drilled giant augur holes where the asphalt once was. Then under the guidance of Doug Wildman of Friends of the Urban Forest, the Grinnell students along with students from San Miguel CDC, James Denman Middle School, Lick Wilmerding High School with the OMI/Excelsior Living Library teachers, prepared the ground and planted the trees.  Before, During, & After Digital Photos available

Life Frames hopes to create and sustain world peace and prosperity for all species on earth by discovering and celebrating our diversity and commonalities through ecological development of a global network of Branch Living Libraries. For more information visit www.alivinglibrary.org