Cedarcreek Elementary School’s Edible School Yard and Flex Lab has won one of the Association for Learning Environment’s 2026 awards for innovation.
The innovation award is given to learning environment projects that take an original approach to “educational delivery in technology, materials, green initiatives, etc.,” according to the association’s 2026 awards information.
The award was announced during the Saugus Union School District’s regular board meeting on March 18. SUSD’s assistant superintendent of business Nick Heinlein said the association mentioned other strong competitors for awards this year that didn’t make the cut.
“The Southern California Chapter gave four Honor Awards last week, and we received one of them for innovation related to the … Edible School Yard,” Heinlein said. “We’re super excited about that.”
Cedarcreek’s Edible Flex Lab is an outdoor garden and kitchen, where students grow their own fruits and vegetables and take cooking lessons. The goal is that students use what they’ve grown themselves while learning to cook.
The district is currently looking for a new chef to lead culinary lessons, and in the meantime, has a gardening class program instructor leading those classes, said Cedarcreek principal Merly Soni.
Students from transitional kindergarten through sixth grade have gardening and cooking classes once a week. The Edible School Yard’s kitchen is equipped with long tables and stools, induction ovens, freezers and dishwashers, Soni said.
“Sometimes (the focus is) meals, sometimes it’s different kitchen skills, it could be how to measure, it could be how to peel a potato, it could be how to mix flour to make pancakes,” Soni said.
The students grow a wide range of produce, Soni said, depending on the season: from blueberries, strawberries and watermelon to potatoes and carrots. This school year is the first the Edible Flex Lab has been completely accessible to students, with a grand opening celebrating its debut back in October.
The project was under development for three years and funded by a $148 million general obligation bond, Measure EE, passed in 2014.
