It’s almost back-to-school time, and I’m jumping the gun by handing out gold stars this week. It’s rare that I get to give so many accolades!
First up, North County schools are growing their own gardens thanks in large part to Explore Ecology and One Cool Earth. These nonprofits help establish and run the gardens where students plant seeds, care for the plants, and harvest and enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of their labors.
“Getting to grow it in the garden, it’s like this little baby that they get to check on every so often,” Explore Ecology Garden Program Director Genevieve Schwanbeck said. “Then by the time it’s ready to … taste this sweet, crunchy cauliflower, they’re like, ‘Oh, … it’s a whole different vegetable.’”
Kids are now enjoying their daily greens thanks to these groups—that’s a win for everyone involved. Gold stars for each nonprofit and the schools. Heck, I’m going to make it rain gold stars on all the participants too!
Next, we’ve got the local county offices of education, which are holding their own against the state and federal governments that want to only look at the numbers from standardized testing. But those standards don’t apply to everyone, especially not the students who are in juvenile hall, who’ve dropped out or been expelled, or those who were chronically truant.
Yet the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO) serves these kids through its Juvenile Court and Community Schools, which are designed specifically to help students become students again. They recover credits, learn life skills, and can either graduate or return to their home district. But in the eyes of the state, the students don’t measure up because they don’t pass the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.
“For [the Juvenile Court and Community Schools], a primary measure of success is helping students earn their high school diploma,” the office said. “Within SBCEO programs, we recognize that success looks different for every student and the critical role SBCEO plays in our students’ academic growth.”
Gold stars for these programs, without which, at-risk kids would fall through the cracks in the state’s metrics.
In Vandenberg Village, I’m handing out gold stars to Constellation Land Development, the county Planning Commission, and 3rd District Planning Commissioner John Parke for their roles in a project that will bring more homes.
“We don’t have them [funding sources] at all in any way, shape, or form for moderate housing. … It has to come from private developers,” Parke said. “We really don’t have housing in this county for all the teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, county planners.”
This Constellation Road development aims to provide 60 apartments and 87 hotel rooms toward that much needed housing—and I’m providing 147 gold stars!
Finally, I’m not forgetting the 2,000 men and women fighting the Gifford Fire. Those firefighters are battling night and day against the 82,000-acre (and growing) fire, protecting life and property. Infinite gold stars—and if I could literally make it rain, I would.
The Canary wants to learn how to grow birdseed. Send land to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 7-17, 2025.