Inner-City Students Commune with Nature Through ``Weeds to Wonder'' Program Sponsored by Metropolitan.

News Editors/Environment Writers/Education Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 2003

State Assembly Speaker Wesson Presides as Metropolitan Presents

Community Partnering Sponsorships to Three Non-Profit Organizations

A ground-breaking program that offers inner-city students from Crenshaw High School a chance to connect with nature while learning about native plants and water conservation was sponsored today by Metropolitan Water District's Community Partnering Program.

Assembly Speaker Herb J. Wesson Jr. (D-Los Angeles/Culver City) joined Metropolitan Director Willard H. Murray Jr. in presenting MWD sponsorships totaling $13,000 to the California State Parks Foundation, Friends of Baldwin Hills, Inc. and STAR Education.

Metropolitan's funding will help sponsor the "Weeds to Wonder" program -- or W2W, as it's popularly known -- at Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Park in Culver City. In its third year, the innovative program brings Crenshaw High students to the park once a week to learn about horticulture, landscaping and the environment through a hands-on experience.

"I am so happy and proud of the work our youth are doing to make this area even more beautiful than it already is. The Weeds to Wonder program gives our students valuable skills -- skills that may lead to careers as park rangers, hydrologists or as master gardeners," Wesson said.

"And no matter what career these students choose, what they are learning here will make them better stewards of our natural resources and better citizens of our great state," Wesson added.

Murray, who represents West Basin Municipal Water District on Metropolitan's board, said Weeds to Wonder supports the district's ongoing public outreach and "bewaterwise.com" advertising campaign aimed at encouraging more efficient irrigation and use of native and California friendly plants.

"As a part of this overall conservation effort, the Community Partnering Program has encouraged Southland non-profit organizations to promote outreach campaigns and strengthen water resources education programs that seek to reduce outdoor water use, while inspiring and educating the public on the beauty and usefulness of native and drought-tolerant plants," Murray said.

Established by Metropolitan's board of directors in 1999, MWD's Community Partnering Program helps promote water awareness and education by sponsoring efforts in the communities of our service area. This fiscal year, Metropolitan will distribute more than $500,000 in Community Partnering sponsorships, with some of these matched and sometimes exceeded by Metropolitan's 26 member public agencies.

The purpose of the partnerships includes educating and informing the public on current water-related issues -- increasing awareness of the importance of water policy to business, industry, government agencies and personal lifestyles in Southern California.

Through Weeds to Wonder, students weed out invasive, exotic plants, and cull seeds of native vegetation gathered during field trips to other state parks. They then propagate and grow their seedlings in a greenhouse, harden them and plant them at the park's entrance.

Ron Schafer, superintendent of the Angeles District of the state Department of Parks and Recreation, said one of the biggest challenges facing California state parks is non-native species.

"Our goal is to eliminate non-native species and reintroduce native vegetation, which is a huge undertaking. The students and volunteers involved in the Weeds to Wonder program play integral roles in meeting that challenge," Schafer said.

Sara Feldman, Southern California director for the California State Parks Foundation, said the $5,000 Metropolitan grant will help enable the foundation to continue supporting this innovative program.

"The foundation is committed to partnerships that help to create and sustain urban park programs such as Weeds to Wonder, which educates one of our most precious resources -- our children -- and beautifies another very precious resource, our California state parks," Feldman said.

Katya Bozzi, executive director of STAR Education, which also received $5,000 from the Community Partnering Program, said her organization "believes in involving young people as early as possible in projects that connect them to their environment.

"We are training them to be stewards of the planet we inherit. We are proud to partner with Weeds to Wonder to engage our youth in a powerful way to achieve this goal," Bozzi said.

"Weeds to Wonder is an excellent blend of stewardship and education for youth in the area that wouldn't happen without the combined resources of community members and partners, like Metropolitan," said Michael Jones, president of the Friends of Baldwin Hills, Inc., which received $3,000 in partnership funds.

"We look forward to continuing to develop activities in Baldwin Hills that expand visitors' understanding of the environment, water conservation and community," Jones said.

Ed Little, West Basin director, said the Weeds to Wonder program provides a good example by showing inner-city kids that conservation in any way and form is important.

"The simplest way to give back to our environment is to nurture our natural surroundings, and Weeds to Wonder is doing just that by introducing this basic concept to our youths," Little said.

For more information on Metropolitan's Community Partnering Program and its ongoing outdoor conservation and advertising campaign visit the district's Web site, www.mwdh2o.com, and "bewaterwise.com," sponsored by the Family of Southern California Water Agencies.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.