St. Margaret’s grade 5 students had an unforgettable experience learning more about sustainability, eating local and serving the community during a much-anticipated field trip to The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano.

The field trip came on the heels of St. Margaret’s all-school service learning project with The Ecology Center and its Nourishing Neighbor program, which works to feed food-insecure families in San Juan Capistrano.

Grade 5 students dove deeper into the partnership with The Ecology Center and learned more how the organization serves the community, and what it means to eat locally and seasonally.

The students stuck with their cohorts and divided their day at The Ecology Center into three stations:

Service Learning: The students took part in a group activity to bag rice and beans for The Ecology Center’s Nourishing Neighbor food boxes, while playing a game that taught the value of sharing and taking only what you need. The students held small cups with beans but were not allowed to count them. Rather, each member of the group had to work together to determine whether or not the beans were equally distributed, and either ask for more if they didn’t have enough or offer more if they had a surplus. “This was definitely a lesson in empathy and understanding the needs of their community members,” grade 5 teacher Erika Higgins said.

Farm Tour: The students went on a tour with a guide who walked them through the different seasonally grown vegetables, herbs, and fruit orchards grown on the multiple acres farmland. He explained how even though the farm was still young, that they have learned a lot about the beauty of seasonal crops. The students walked past squash, broccoli, avocado and citrus saplings and visited the seedling greenhouse. 

Strawberry Picking: Students also had the chance to pick farm-fresh strawberries to take home.

“The students really took so much from this experience – from the service learning to the appreciation for how much work goes into the food that makes it into their lunches and onto their tables,” Mrs. Higgins said. “It was a memorable learning experience for everyone.”