Nature Adventure

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This cornerstone began in the Fall of 2014. It was led by a five member student leadership team. They accomplished a lot and used our Ojai Land Conservancy next to our campus. It is this 58 acre Meadow Preserve that provides the experiences for our students. We use this natural setting to learn about the ecosystem. We have had bird watching kits for the past few years. This year the team went through each kit to make sure they were complete. They contain binoculars, bird watching charts from the meadows, pencils, bird identification colored chart, and a field notes booklet that encourages the five senses. The 25 kits are now complete. We added 5 more sets of binoculars, and now 15 kits have them. We also added GPS devices in the remaining 10 kits that do not have binoculars. Classes were able to check out kits and use them in the meadows. This was a great success, and students enjoyed the activities. Next year, we would like to make sure all kits have binoculars, and maybe add 5 more kits to serve a class of 30.

Other activites in the meadows were reading and math in this setting. The students launched the idea of lawn chairs for a class of 30. The chairs were more expensive then they anticipated and the team next year will continue this concept. They would like to do a fund raiser specifically for this project. Maybe families could donate a chair, and their name could be placed on the chair as recognition. We are excited to see this idea come into the school community. The activity of a class using the chairs and reading in the meadows during their silent reading time is a wonderful way to promote another activity that classes could do in the meadows. Next year they also want to add math in the meadows, the possibilities are endless!

This year a few classes had the opportunity to visit and experience a local sustainable farm. A third/fourth combination class partnered with the Environmental Science class from the high school. They were put in teams of 2-3 and were involved in many activities on the farm. It was this Big Buddy-Little Buddy partnership that made this program successful. The farm was gracious and invited us in to learn from them. They showed us their goats and chickens from which they have milk, eggs, and protein. (they eat the chickens as well) The students learned to milk a goat, and gathered eggs from the coop. There were many baby goats that they got to cuddle. They also harvested citrus and eat oranges. They learned how to irrigate crops and set up a hose to water them. On the farm is a tiny house with a compostable toilet, they got to view this way of living. They also harvested strawberries and lemons and made strawberry jam. In addition, they planted seeds in pots and placed them in the green house. Our thanks goes to Poco Farms for teaching us how to use our own resources to live a natural life. The farm is in walking distance and was easy to access for both groups. We loved meeting our Big Buddies at the farm! We can't wait for next year.

Finally, two years ago we planted a native oak tree in the front of the school. We had an assembly and named it "The Lorax Tree". It was planted in the front of the school, and the district grounds crew, and students did not realize how precious our tree was. It was almost cut down a few times, so the group designed a sign, and placed it in front of the tree to alert all those who come near it. We will continue to monitor our tree next year, and protect our Lorax Tree!