Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, CA is the oldest high school in the Desert. Established in 1916, it's been the home of the Arabs and will now be the first high school in the Desert to offer a professionally landscaped and intentional Zen Garden. CV Unified has made a considerable investment in recent years to address the long-standing and ever increasing need for mental and behavioral health support. CV High School is also the first to hire a professional wellness expert and establish a full-time, on-site wellness center serving the students and staff of the high school.

The Zen Garden project is a collaboration of district personnel, local stone and materials supplier, and local contractors working together to create a custom built and professionally landscaped space that measures over 1800 square feet. Two, large water features will provide the calming effect and beautiful sounds for those standing or seated in the various locations planned throughout the garden. Flagstones invite visitors into each of the two entrances and around the central water feature with three, professionally landscaped planter beds surrounding those within the garden. Privacy and the sense of being transported to another place is achieved with the various height fences surrounding the garden and pergola providing a shade structure as well as a place for vines and flowers to grow and bloom. Special Zen garden sand will populate the spaces around the flagstones and in the general areas for visitors to use special rakes so they can create patterns in the sand.

We plan to use the space as an outdoor healing center for therapy sessions as well as a general space where students and staff can sit, relax, and connect with each other and nature and we hope to inspire other schools across the desert to, once again, follow the lead of CV High School.

On behalf of the CV District and CV High School, we are immensely grateful for this grant and the opportunity to bring a truly special and unique experience to our current and many future generations here in the Coachella Valley.

Thank you for funding my project for this year. We are purchasing and installing a new light board for our theatre/auditorium and the tech is going to instruct a group of technical theatre students on its operation. This light board will be used for school assemblies, concerts and theatrical productions impacting the education and lives of all of the student population in one way or another. We are so pleased that we will be able to replace our old, outdated and semi-functional board and to be able to control all of the space’s lighting instruments with ease and to light our complicated musical and dramatic shows.

Contact: Wayne Abravanel Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA)
Email: Wayne.Abravanel@cvusd.us

The Coachella Valley High School Marching Band and Color guard has grown during the past 6 years, from 47 band students to over 160 band and color guard students. We are always looking for ways to get instruments and color guard equipment to give all of our current and incoming students the best musical experience possible. With this award we were granted, students will now be able to take beginning band and have a full choice of instruments or color guard equipment of their choice thanks to the Anderson Children's Foundation. This will let them decide what they would like to do and be part of a band that over the last 2 year have won Sweepstakes (top overall band) at the National Date Festival, 1st Place in our division at the Shadow Hill Field Tournament, and perform in The National Memorial Day Parade in Washington DC representing the state of California. Thank you for helping us make things possible for the youth on the East Side of the Coachella Valley.

I intend to purchase a piano lab for my piano class at Coachella Valley High School. This lab gives me the capability to plug all of my piano students into a central system with headphones. It will allow me to listen to each student individually, or in groups, as they practice their lessons. currently, all students play out loud at the same time, which is very distracting and noisy. This system is used all over the country in similar classes. The students have privacy in their practice sessions, and can learn much more efficiently as they can only hear themselves, unless the lesson is one for the group as a whole. This allows the students to proceed at their own pace, without fear of being heard by the rest of the class. It allows the teacher to communicate with individual students or the class as a whole.