Karen Billing

1 week ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Karen Billing

During the Encinitas Country Day jogathon, each student running laps around the grassy field carried a higher purpose, helping to heal little hearts. Through donations and lap pledges, the school’s students raised $36,312 for Gift of Life International, enough for 36 children to receive life saving heart-surgery in countries such as the Dominican Republic and Bolivia.

2 weeks ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Karen Billing

A pop-up art exhibition titled “This is Now”  is bringing vitality to a Rancho Santa Fe village corner space that has been vacant for over 10 years. Curated by the Ryan Campbell Garrett Art Advisory, the show will be on display through April 25 featuring the works by a variety of artists, including Ed Ruscha, Hugo McCloud, Lynne Drexler, Kim DeJesus, Dashiell Manley, Whitney Bedford, Anne Wherley Bjork, Bella Foster, Allison Schulnik and Sam Gilliam.

2 weeks ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Karen Billing

Should there be a bike lane on Village Center Loop Road in Pacific Highlands Ranch? Students in Canyon Crest Academy’s Humanities Conservatory believe there should be and are continuing their push to add a class II bike lane on the road along the front of their high school, conducting community outreach, meeting with local elected representatives and presenting their case to the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board.

2 weeks ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Karen Billing

With their student-created business Glass to Garden, a group of Canyon Crest Academy students is giving used glass bottles a second life as bird feeders, to promote sustainability and support local wildlife. “Our goal is to transform discarded materials into something meaningful,” said Aanya Shah, the company’s CEO in a press release.

2 weeks ago | sandiegouniontribune.com | Karen Billing

The Carmel Valley community came together for a tree planting event at Solana Highlands Park on April 1. About 40 volunteers, including many Solana Highlands School students and their families, made quick work planting 11 new trees on the sunny weekday, the campus quieted by spring break. Wielding wheelbarrows and shovels, the volunteers learned from San Diego Parks and Recreation Department workers about how to make protective soil berms to help the trees take root.