Imagine walking under a forest canopy when all youβve known in your short 12 years of life is a concrete city landscape. Many of the school children visiting Brooksdale these days are having just this sort of experience β experiencing the wonder of creation for the first times in their lives.
For over 10 years the A Rocha team has welcomed over 1,500 students annually on school field trips. Children from Kindergarten through Grade 12 have explored forests, dug in gardens, and dipped nets into ponds.
Many of those who have come have been from private and Christian schools where A Rochaβs message of creation care has resonated well. But recently weβve seen an increase in visits from the public school system. In fact, weβve made a name for ourselves within the Surrey School District as a marvelous place of environmental education for students from challenging economic and social backgrounds.
This is our thirdΒ year formally partnering with the Surrey School District.Β Surrey is the largest district in BC and one with a high number of urban βinner-cityβ schools.
Thanks to a GO grant from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, A Rochaβs Brooksdale education team is welcoming a raft of Grades 4-7 classes from 6 different inner-city Surrey schools.
This fall, we have a full slate of field trips lined up where weβll introduce these vulnerable students to the wonder of the natural world. For some of these students, walking Brooksdaleβs nature trails into the forest is a new and sometimes scary prospect!Β Some of these children have so little experience in the outdoors that they don’t have any framework for approaching the slope under their feet or for anticipating what kinds of living things they might encounter. (One child asked if they should look out for wolves on their walk.)
Nervousness soon transforms into wonder as children become comfortable in the natural world.Β They are THRILLED to dip nets into our pond and pull up tadpoles and small fish β a first for nearly all of them. They become quiet and observant when given binoculars and told to notice the birds above their heads. They hold magnifying glasses to leaves and bugs and the occasional red-legged frog.
We are so grateful to share these experiences of wonder with the children that come and trust that this wonder will in turn transform into a genuine care for creation.
Click here to learn more about Education programs at Brooksdale