2008 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

YERBA BUENA GARDENS AND ORACLE ANNOUNCE
THE YEAR-LONG “LEARNING DAYS” SERIES AT THE
YERBA BUENA CHILDREN’S LEARNING GARDEN

“WISHING TREE” DEDICATION  ON SEPTEMBER 21
TO INTRODUCE NEW SERIES

(San Francisco, CA, September 16, 2008) – Yerba Buena Gardens today announced that it will work with Oracle Corporation to launch a year-long series of environmentally-focused educational activities and events for children. 

Called “Learning Days,” this Oracle-sponsored series will be held at the Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Learning Center at Howard and Fourth Streets, near the historic Zeum carousel. Activities will include interactive performing arts, hands-on participatory gardening activities, arts and crafts, eco-system education, animal lifecycles, recycling education, green waste management and holiday programs all designed to delight, entertain and engage children and their adults. 

To celebrate their joint efforts and commence “Learning Days,” Yerba Buena Gardens and Oracle will dedicate a “Wishing Tree” to the residents and City of San Francisco.  The dedication will take place in the Children’s Learning Garden on Sunday, September 21 at 2:00pm – 3:30pm and will coincide with the start of Oracle’s flagship technology conference, Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco 2008.

The Oracle "Wishing Tree” is a sculptural piece commissioned by Oracle and created by Bay Area artist Paul Lanier.  The ten-foot tall tree is a permanent art installation made from recycled steel and non-toxic materials.  A “Wishing Tree” is a symbolic tree identified as possessing spiritual value.   Believers make offerings in order to gain fulfillment from a wish. 

To launch the “Learning Days” series, children are invited to express their hopes concerning the future of the environment.  The highlight of the event will involve participants writing their wishes on mylar leaves and then tying their wishes to the Oracle "Wishing Tree".  There will also be a pear tree planted in the Garden at this time.

Judith Sim, Oracle’s Chief Marketing Officer , commented, “Oracle is committed to supporting initiatives that make a positive impact on our local community.  The 'Wishing Tree' and our support of the “Learning Series” will help educate young people on how an eco-friendly lifestyle and sustainable choices can make a difference in our local neighborhoods, our city and our world. We are honored to present this gift to the residents of San Francisco.”  

Mary McCue, General Manager of Yerba Buena Gardens, stated, “I have been inspired by Paul Lanier’s commitment to bringing community together through public art for over 30 years. Oracle’s support of the ‘Wishing Tree’ and the Yerba Buena Children’s Learning Garden are actions that bring people together to build a more sustainable and resilient future.”

Linda Lucero, Executive Director of Yerba Buena Gardens Festival adds, ”Artist Paul Lanier’s ‘Wishing Tree’ is an interactive, spiritual, enduring gift for the children and families of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. Yerba Buena Arts & Events is thrilled to partner with MJM Management Group and Oracle in presenting the Oracle Wishing Tree in Yerba Buena Gardens."

THE LEARNING DAYS SERIES
Beginning in September and running through September 2009, The “Learning Days” series will occur each Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am to 4:00pm.   All of the events are free and will include gardening, crafts, music and story hour, tours of the Garden, and Oracle Wishing Tree wish making.

At 11:00am, Learning Garden Guides will read and perform a selection of classic and modern children’s stories, as well as story based games and activities.  

At Noon, there will be a Learning Garden tour and garden maintenance.  The tour consists of an explanation of what the garden is and how it is used, an exploration of what grows in the garden and where our food comes from.  

At 2:00pm, craft activities will focus on producing art based around the garden itself or its resources including making Halloween puppets, holiday oriented snacks and costume pieces, corn husk dolls, scare crows, pumpkin carvings, bracelets and tiaras from plant materials, musical instruments from recycled sources, planters for take-home planting projects that can be returned and planted in the garden. Also, “Snack Chef” will provide an opportunity for children and parents to learn fun healthy snack recipes that children can make at home. These will often be made from Learning Garden ingredients and prepared in the Solar Oven.  The food cycle and food origins program would be capped by a weekly or monthly “harvest feast.”

At 3:00pm, the Learning Garden Guides will teach basic gardening skills where children and their adults can plant and prune and care for garden spaces.

At 4:00pm, Circus Gardenia will showcase a professional performer with a background in circus and variety arts. As trained professional performers they are especially gifted at teaching children the circus arts and the life skills to be gained from them. Skills are taught at all levels with lessons suited as well to toddlers as adults.

MONTHLY LEARNING GARDEN PROGRAMS
Throughout the year, the “Learning Days” Series’ programs and activities will be customized and augmented to incorporate holiday themes and the changing of the seasons.  Each month will also include visits from Bay Area school groups to help in the garden and learn about the 4R’s (reduction, reusing, recycling and rotting), backyard biology, beneficial insects and the food cycle.  Beginning in November, a Meet the Farmer program will start with farmers, growers and community garden leaders from around the Bay Area discuss farming and gardening. For more detailed information please visit the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival website, www.ybgf.org or download the 2009 Calendar.

October: In preparation for Halloween, the weekly craft activities would include Pumpkin decorating, the history and facts of pumpkins and Halloween. With kid safe carving tools, stickers and paints, parents and children will create pumpkin art and Monster Puppets from paper bags. On October 30 and 31, Ghost Story Theatre will feature a shared activity where the guides craft and perform spooky stories with the help of the children. The guides help little visitors with face painting to prepare for the yearly Gardens Halloween Costume Walk.

November: Harvest Festival/Thanksgiving. A large harvest event where foods are harvested from the garden along with a presentation about harvest festivals and the fall equinox, The Festival will also raise awareness for programs like America’s Second Harvest, where any surplus produce from the Learning Garden will be donated to local food banks.

December: Worm World, a vermi-composting program, will be created with a strong emphasis on the 4R’s of ecology and preservation: reduction, reusing, recycling and rotting. Lessons will be taught on the role of worms and insects in our ecology and on the ideas of naturally occurring fertilizer and organic composting. When combined with the butterfly and ladybug activities these positive bug oriented experiences make up the bulk of our insect immersion program used throughout the year.  A Christmas program will include making holiday cards with materials from the learning garden.

6th, 7th, 20th, & 21st - Christmas Big Craft
Big craft for the month would include making holiday cards with visiting children, with materials from the learning garden.

13th & 14th - Christmas Plantings
Fresh starts are celebrated in a series of plantings for the New Year, with plants selected specifically for winter planting.

31st - New Years Wish Big Craft
In the big craft for this month would be the creation of New Years Wishes to decorate the wishing tree. (Sparkly silver new years wishes, or chirstmas- i.e. snowflake shaped wishes)

January 2009: New Year plantings will be celebrated in a series of plantings with plants selected specifically for winter in the Bay Area.

3rd & 4th - New Years Wish Big Craft
In the big craft for this month would be the creation of New Years Wishes to decorate the wishing tree. (Sparkly silver new years wishes, or chirstmas- i.e. snowflake shaped wishes)

3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 18th, 24th, & 25th - Worm World! (Focus on the R’s)
With the installation of the Worm World, (a vermi-composting program) a strong emphasis is placed on the 4R’s of ecology and preservation. (Reduction, reusing, recycling, and rotting) Lessons taught on the role of worms and insects in our ecology and on the ideas of naturally occurring fertilizer and organic composting, and the lifecycle of the earth worm.

When combined with our butterfly and ladybug activities these positive bug oriented experiences make up the bulk of our insect immersion program used throughout the year. Revolving around these three specific activities - the raising of butterflies from caterpillars monthly throughout the summer, a giant lady bug release over a two day period in April of every year, and the Vermi-composting project Worm World -the program creates positive immersive experiences that can be between parents and children to reinforce the idea that insects are beneficial and beautiful, and not to be feared or avoided.

1st, 3rd, 17th, & 24th - New Year Plantings
Fresh starts are celebrated in a series of plantings for the New Year, with plants selected specifically for winter planting.

5th & 19th - Community Growing
School groups are invited in to help in the garden and learning about the 4R’s, Backyard Biology, Beneficial Insects, and the Food Cycle.

11th & 25th - Meet the Farmer
Farmers, growers and community garden leads from around the Bay Area are invited in to speak with children and class groups visiting the gardens, on the food cycle, agri-business, and productive ecology.

February: February Flowers are planted and picked, with a history of flowers in culture and the tradition of flower giving discussed.  A Valentine’s Hearts craft will be created to incorporate the Hearts of San Francisco program and the Wishing Tree.

March: A Mad Hatters Tea Party, in collaboration with Samovar Tea Lounge, will be a day of tea, stories, wonderland oriented games and capped by a performance of the Clown Conservatory’s Wonderland Circus, a circus skills and play based on the Alice in Wonderland stories.

April: April Fools Festival will focus on tricky plants, and hand made “jokes.” Ladybug Days on Earth Day is a weeklong program with ladybug-oriented crafts, stories and explorations leading up to the giant ladybug release.

May: Rites of Spring will include a planting festival, where spring foods and fruits are prepared.  The Butterfly Festival will be a day honoring butterflies with butterfly crafts, snacks, games, life cycle performances and the culmination of a giant butterfly release.

June: Faerie Tale Days will be a day of stories, performances, snacks and crafts based around creating pirate or faerie costumes.  The Children’s Garden Adventure will begin which is an ongoing treasure hunt where children and parents get clues to find a hidden treasure trove where they can sign in on a log-book and get a stamp saying they found the secrets.

July: Butterfly Festival, a day honoring butterflies with butterfly crafts, snacks (edible flowers and nectar), games, life cycle performance and preparation of the final culmination of a giant butterfly release.

August: Butterfly Festival, a day honoring butterflies with butterfly crafts, snacks (edible flowers and nectar), games, life cycle performance and preparation of the final culmination of a giant butterfly release.

September: The Wishing Tree Anniversary. The anniversary of the “planting” of the Wishing Tree” is held, with a garden feast, wish making crafts and a chance to look back on wishes made and achieved.

Yerba Buena Gardens & the  “Learning Days,” series at the Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Learning Center at Howard & Fourth Streets, near the historic Zeum Carousel in downtown San Francisco. For more information, please call (415) 543-1718, visit www.ybgf.org or download the 2009 Calendar.

About Oracle
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Media Contacts:
Marshall Lamm
(510) 928-1410
marshalllamm@earthlink.net

Kimberly Pineda
Oracle
(650) 506-8831
kimberly.pineda@oracle.com

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