Kinoshita Elementary School Visits The Ecology Center

 

This Spring, The Ecology Center hosted students from Kinoshita Elementary School on our Regenerative Organic Certified^TM farm for a field trip. Thanks to the generous support from the SoCal Gas Climate Champions grant program, we are able to offer scholarships for our field trips to local schools and organizations supporting underserved families. Kinoshita students visit The Ecology Center every season and witness the transformation and abundance that each season on the farm brings. On their most recent visit, we highlighted the gifts of Spring through Grow-Eat-Make activities–students experience our farm through the lens of the farmer, the chef, and the artisan. As a farmer, students used their hands and connected with the Earth while picking and tasting delicious strawberries and other seasonal fruits and vegetables. Then, they moved from farmer to chef and created and ate fresh strawberry jam from their harvest with our culinary team.

Each field trip offers a hands-on learning experience on our core value of “Produce No Waste.” Students discovered the biological process of decomposition by visiting our compost station, feeling and measuring the heat radiating from the different piles, and interacting with our model worm bin. After learning about how our farm produces no food waste through composting, they explored the farm to find non-organic waste and gathered irrigation tape that they created an art project with. Here, students became an artisan and created meaningful art projects while also learning how to upcycle and ensure nothing goes to waste.

By working in deep partnership with schools like Kinoshita Elementary, we are able to host multi-visit experiences with students. Visiting an ecological oasis like The Ecology Center every year allows for students to grow with the seasons, share meaningful memories and educational opportunities, and deepen their appreciation for our shared environment.

We are continually inspired by the excitement and joy brought to the farm by the children who come here for field trips. We are grateful to our partners at SoCal Gas for supporting this program and our vision.