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ACE Center builds an environment for learning at Taking the Reins

The seed bank has evolved into an outdoor retreat with a bench for sitting. It also serves as a place to display seedlings and hang herbs to dry.

The seed bank has evolved into an outdoor retreat with a bench for sitting. It also serves as a place to display seedlings and hang herbs to dry.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University’s ACE Center raises structures at Taking the Reins, an equestrian and gardening program for at-risk girls.

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Girls in the Taking the Reins program in Atwater Village congregate at one of eight new structures. Woodbury faculty member Elizabeth Timme said the team “wanted every structure to be an economical, light-filled space.”   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Woodbury University’s Architecture + Civic Engagement (ACE) Center students built two side-by-side outdoor kitchens for the Taking the Reins “seed to skillet” program.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Katya works in the garden of the nonprofit Taking the Reins in Atwater Village.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Macy picks peaches from one of the fruit trees at Taking the Reins.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Urban farm manager Colleen Hennessey, shown teaching students, hopes to sell bumper crops from the organic garden at the produce stand located along the Los Angeles River path.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Bounty from the garden.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Shade is critical, and the new pavilions provide shelter for the girls as they move from the riding rink to gardening and cooking.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

A rooster and hen exit the chicken coop at Taking the Reins.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

The new tool shed at Taking the Reins, in the background, has become a favorite spot for the chickens.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

The structures are adaptable and open-ended with see-through lath strips and large cut-outs that allow you to look through the buildings and into the garden.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

In addition to the equestrian program, the girls learn all aspects of a “seed-to skillet” program -- planting more than 300 vegetables, and propagating, tending and cooking what they have grown.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Harvested green beans from the garden.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

The girls harvest kale from the garden that they will then cook in the outdoor kitchen.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

The girls prepare to cook with urban farm manager Colleen Hennessey in the side-by-side outdoor kitchen structures built by the ACE Center.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

In addition to equine science and organic gardening, the girls care for goats and chickens at Taking the Reins in Atwater Village. The goat pen is one of eight structures built by Woodbury University architecture students over three semesters.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Several of the girls said they had never eaten a salad before they started working in the garden.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

A tall structure built of lath -- thin flat strips of redwood normally used in lattice or underneath plaster walls -- offers a reprieve from the heat.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Woodbury University's ACE Center builds a learning environment

Inside the barn at Taking the Reins, the girls learn equine science and barn procedures.   (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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