![](./pubData/source/images/pages/page3.jpg)
EL SEGUNDO HERALD December 7, 2017 Page 3
Richmond Street School Learning
Garden Provides Educational Sanctuary
Students at Richmond Street School (RSS)
are discovering a new way of learning one
seed at a time. The school’s Learning Garden
was established several years ago, and has
recently gained momentum with the help
of a dynamic duo who are passionate about
helping students learn the importance of
planting, sustainable food sources, and the
benefits to humans and the environment.
Education partner Matt Finkelstein and
parent volunteer Karena Gurr are lending
their talents to help the garden thrive as
an educational experience for students. A
small and supportive group of parents and
volunteers are also vital to sustaining the
garden. Throughout the year, there are
opportunities to volunteer on scheduled
Saturdays in the Garden and Weeding
Wednesday events.
Finkelstein conducts gardening lessons
every Wednesday with students alternating
the weeks they receive the curriculum by
grade level. “Farmer Matt,” as he is known
to the students” is a regenerative urban
farmer with more than 10 years of experience.
His lessons include an experiential
journey from soil to seeds. Students study
sprouts grown in a jar for an up-close look,
they learn about composting, they look for
garden “helpers and harmers” and journal
about their discoveries, and they study different
herbs and plants through use of the
senses. The students help with planting
everything from fruits and vegetables to
flowers and herbs.
“I have learned that the space we create is
integral to the educational experience for the
students,” says Finkelstein. “We are working
hard to build out different components of
the space to facilitate a variety of learning
experiences. We want the teachers to use the
garden as an inspirational outdoor space for
their lessons as well.”
A Garden Club for fifth grade students
was recently established with initial-year
funding gifted by the RSS PTA. The club
meets every other Wednesday from 3-4 p.m.
and giving students the opportunity to have
a deeper experience learning about plants,
nature and garden maintenance.
“The Learning Garden provides a unique and
valuable opportunity for students to learn the
science of planting, where food comes from,
the importance of sustainable food sources,
and the benefits of healthy eating habits, as
well as gaining a greater appreciation for the
environment,” said Alice Lee, Richmond Street
School Principal. – Content: ESUSD •
Richmond Street School education partner Matt Finkelstein works with students of all grade levels every Wednesday in the school’s
Learning Garden. Here he is pictured with members of the Fifth Grade Garden Club.
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches
patience and careful watchfulness;
it teaches industry and thrift; above
all it teaches entire trust.”
– Gertrude Jekyll
Douglass
MORTUARY
“Our Family Serving Yours Since 1954”
B U R I A L - C R E M AT I O N - W O R L DW I D E T R A N S F E R
P E T M E M O R I A L P RO D U C T S
500 EAST IMPERIAL AVENUE
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA 90245
Te l e p h o n e ( 3 1 0 ) 6 4 0 - 9 3 2 5 • F a x ( 3 1 0 ) 6 4 0 - 0 7 7 8 • F D 6 5 8
Burkley Brandlin
Swatik & Keesey LLP
AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW
Lifetime El Segundo Residents
Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury
Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation
310-540-6000
*AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization
Visionary Gets the Green Light to
Transform Automotive Industry
By Rob McCarthy
A dirty little secret about hybrids and electric
cars is they’re only better for the environment
once they leave the car assembly plant. They’re
harder to create than conventional automobiles,
and forging aluminum instead of steel to make
cars lighter requires more energy and creates
Divergent Chief Executive Officer Kevin Czinger created this prototype sports car using a radically different method of manufacturing.
more pollution. It’s not a win-win situation…yet.
That’s what makes the research and development
work going on at Divergent 3D in
Torrance so interesting. This 2014 technology
startup says it has come up with the blueprint
for how carmakers can make the manufacturing
process as clean as the cleaner-running,
high-mileage people movers rolling off Detroit
assembly lines.
Remaking the automotive-manufacturing
industry starts with 3D printers using strong
carbon-fiber materials instead of forged stainless
steel. Divergent’s Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Czinger and his team of engineers and
designers are putting together an end-to-end
system to build car chassis that can be assembled
in minutes, according to the company.
“The Divergent system allows automakers and
technology companies to innovate at a much
faster rate—scaling up volume production at
only a fraction of the cost while also alleviating
environmental damage,” Czinger said last month.
Automotive experts say that the manufacturing
process accounts for up to 20 percent of a vehicle’s
lifetime greenhouse gas emissions. There
is considerable interest in the car plant technology
coming from China, where an investor
group has pumped $65 million into Divergent’s
ongoing research and development in Torrance.
The Chinese involvement with Divergent
makes sense because that nation’s car market
is the biggest in the world and it’s growing.
The government is attempting to reduce pollution
and modernize the local auto industry,
according to writer Tycho Deijter, who covers
the Asian car market and contributes to Forbes
magazine.
Divergent, which recently won a
Petersen Automotive Museum Award for
Leadership & Innovation, describes itself
as a technology development and licensing
company. Licensing opportunities abound in
China, where there are 130 passenger car
brands. The majority of car brands are made
locally in China, Deijter noted. “The number
of brands is staggering,” he wrote in a May
2016 piece for Forbes, and “new brands keep
popping up.”
Divergent will use the $65 million to further
develop and commercialize the eco-friendly
car technology, it said. With the latest round
of funding, CEO Czinger says his venture is
fully funded to complete “our reference factory.”
The company sees the emerging Chinese
electric car market as a primary customer for
its technology.
The industrial 3D printers create interlinking
parts of the car’s frame using a process known
as additive manufacturing. The printers keep
adding layers of material--in this case, carbon
fiber--guided by computer software. Additive
manufacturing has the potential to create new
body parts and organs from living tissue.
A 3D printer works much like a home or
office laser printer. Open a file, hit print and
wait for the copy. The difference is that 3D
printing jets build three-dimensional prototypes
and parts using 100 different kinds of materials,
from plastic to metal to nylon. The process is so
unique that people in the fields of manufacturing,
medicine and consumer products predict
it’s the next industrial revolution.
The other difference between the printercopier
and a 3D printer is how a digital file is
reproduced. The 3D printer creates an image
from a digital file, starting at the bottom and
working its way up.
The process has been likened to a layer cake,
where the baker lays down each layer one at a
time until the entire cake is formed. There are
videos on the Internet about 3D printing, and
the unbelievable things that really smart people
have designed, like a fully functioning jet engine.
These car factories of the future could be
cheaper to open, according to Czinger. He says
that an auto plan could be built at one-tenth
She says, “I don’t really need anything”... Just get me something little”...
“Don’t spend very much on me this year”... “The last thing I need
is a new diamond”... Diamonds and jewelry are way too expensive!”
The Jewelry Source
337 Main St. El Segundo. 310-322-7110
www.jewelrysourceUSA.com
©2007
How to tell if she wants
fine jewelry for Christmas
She couldn’t have
made it more clear!
Come see us!
See Divergent, page 17