Including local artists encourages students to engage their


non-verbal skills. Through their drawing, students combine the facts they have learned with their creative sides. The fac- tual material becomes more vivid to them through engaging all aspects of learning in the experience.


Taking a breath After Insect Art, everyone is glad to meet at the Lunch station. The middle school students have been constantly in motion since arriving at Strawberry Canyon, and now they eat and chat. Early Childhood Educator Sue Davis marshals the forest’s healing powers to take the chatty tone down a notch. This recalls the Japanese practice of “Shinrin- yoku” or, in English, “forest bathing,” which is meant to allow people to slow down and become wholly immersed in the natural environment. “Quiet time made me relax, and I almost slept,” one stu-


dent would write later. “Thank you for letting all of us calm down,” from another


student. “Nature is peaceful,” from another.


Chemistry in the forest At the third station, Soil Testing, the students work with soil samples from planting areas in Strawberry Canyon. Cam- bria’s forest soil is the natural bed for the Monterey Pine. The species has occupied this part of the land- scape for millennia. Primed by their two days of classroom instruction, the students test the soil for pH (acidity/alkalinity), which affects pine growth. A teaspoon of soil in a measured amount of distilled water with an indicator dye tablet produces a col- ored solution. The color is then compared to a color chart of pH levels. The students learn basic chemistry,


specifically how elements combine to pro- vide important soil macronutrient levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the trees. “Eighth-graders make connections with


the soil chemistry to the chemistry they are doing with me in their physical science classes,” Ms. Narzisi says. “They help the sixth-graders with the periodic table, pH scale, and other basic chemistry.” The students develop ideas on making


changes in the forest. For example, if their data shows that Strawberry Canyon’s soil is too alkaline, they might recommend that the soil become more acidic since Monterey Pines need more acidic soil.


Ready to plant! At the final learning station, Planting, the students get their hands in the dirt. They plant native pine seedlings grown from seeds collected in the forest. These seeds are from trees that have resisted the Pitch


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(Pine) Canker that has infected many trees. Each student’s seedling is marked by a stake with his or her first name. Santa Lucia’s 2016 sixth-graders returned as seventh-graders in 2017 to visit the trees they planted the year before. One stu- dent had written, “I really liked taking a picture next to my tree.” It’s a long day in the forest. A local business, Harvey’s


Honey Huts, provides a clean restroom. “The wonder of it is getting out in the open, in the air, like


we used to play as kids,” says Mr. Van Rhyn, now in his 80s. “It’s very exciting for me to see the wonder of growing things that Rick [Hawley] implants in them.”


Looking back Back in the classroom, the students spend the next two days making their own paper out of used and discarded paper. The new paper is used to record original poems about the forest. The use of a Poet-Tree adds another dimension to the learning. Thank-you notes to the Greenspace Volunteers follow. “I


might have been in a bad mood that day, but you helped it get better,” one writes in a thank-you, illustrated with his draw- ing of a Red-and-green Macaw—not a native species, but lis- tening to bird calls was part of the field trip. The students had heard jays squawking at each other, calling warnings about the people in the forest, and Wild Turkeys gobbling.


On-campus gardening


Santa Lucia Middle School has its own garden with eight beds and a greenhouse. Students are always eager to spend the class period in the garden. “I actually hear them say, ‘Yessss!’ every single time!” Narzisi says. Students start plants from seed in the greenhouse. With Environmental Education being a year-long class, students can follow their plants from seed to plate. “They love seeing their projects through.” They take care of the plants in the greenhouse until they are ready to be transplanted outdoors into the beds, and then they continue caring for the plants until they are ready to be harvested. “Then we eat them!” Typically, the students work independently in the garden planting seeds and


transplanting greenhouse plants to beds. One group project involved the students’ creating a proposal for a succulent garden at the school. To learn about succulents, Ms. Narzisi had taken the class to Ganna Walska Lotusland, a botanical garden in Montecito, earlier in the year. Ms. Narzisi directed the students to pay particular attention to the succulents there. “[They] were amazed and inspired by the plants and gardens. I was blown away by their level of appreciation of this experience.” She had overheard one sixth-grader say, “This bed [of succulents] is so beautiful!” One eighth-grade student who had taken the class three times held a weed up to the sunlight exclaiming, “Look at this! Its roots are so beautiful.” “The level of appreciation for nature, including the roots of a weed, has


increased so much by interacting with nature in such a hands-on way,” remarks Ms. Narzisi. The students then worked in small groups to design the succulent garden,


which they presented to the principal, before working together to plant the gar- den, take cuttings of succulents, and complete other garden tasks. Students even started a new native plant garden on campus, behind the main


office. In preparation, they worked independently to research a native plant that they intended to plant on campus. Using this information, they created an infor- mational interpretive plate for each plant.


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