Tucked quietly in between the Aquatics Center and Kincaid Baseball Field at Cerritos College, the California Native Plant Sanctuary is now open three times a week and volunteers,students and faculty are embracing the space as a means for community, connection and curriculum.
The sanctuary is home to various native plants and does its part to honor the Tongva and Acjachemen people and their land and bring together both the local and Indigenous communities.
The inaugural planting of the sanctuary was on Jan. 19, 2024 after the first garden near the Health Science building was accidentally bulldozed.
Since then, the garden has flourished and is open to Cerritos College students and faculty, the community and native descendants.
Visitors are free to enjoy the scenery and use the space as a working area and are invited to volunteer and enjoy the benefits of gardening.
Jocelyn Chavira, sociology major, 23, has been a regular volunteer for over a year after being introduced to the garden through one of her classes, and said she has built many friendships among the other volunteers.
“It’s such a break from my busy schedule. I feel like I get to ground myself and just enjoy watering the plants and pruning the white sage or planting other plants. Nursery work is really fun and potting especially is one of my favorite things to do here,” Chavira continued.
Another regular volunteer is the Environmental Club Vice President Destiny Encinas, biology and sociology major, 24, who began volunteering during the early stages of the garden.
She also hosts her tutoring hours along with club meetings at the Native Plant Sanctuary.
Encinas said she enjoys lending a hand at the garden, but also appreciates the beautiful scenery the sanctuary provides.
Her favorite native plant is the Wild Lupin, which blooms beautiful vibrant purple pea-like flowers in a tall, spiky shape.
“It makes me feel happy seeing the process of like the growth, especially when everything starts blooming. It’s just so peaceful,” Encinas said. “And also, the garden brings a lot of nature which makes me happy.”
Among the faculty volunteers is economics professor Solomon Namala, 63. He has been volunteering since April 2024 and holds his office hours out in the garden.
He believes that volunteering at the garden is not only beneficial for the environment and mental wellness, but also learning about the indigenous people that once resided on the land.
“The garden is more meaningful than just printing the land acknowledgement on my syllabus,” Namala said. “Native people are not only from the past, they are also living now. And the nice thing is that students also learn about that.”
Namala encourages others to visit the sanctuary, seeing it as an opportunity for students and community members who don’t have access to their own home garden to get in touch with nature and learn about native plants.
Co-founder of the Native Plant Sanctuary and biology professor at Cerritos College Anna Valcarcel, 48, said that she hopes for more people to use the space, not only as a place to relax and host events, but as an educational place for instructors and students.
“You can use it just to relax, to study, to meditate. But also, bring your classes out. It can be tied into any kind of visual art, it can be tied into history and obviously biology,” she said. “We’re trying to make an effort so that everybody feels like they can use the space.”
