Beautifying Summit Elementary School and the Upper Ojai Community

This service learning activity involved a second, third, and fourth grade combination class of twenty students at Summit Elementary School. Nine out of the twenty students were third graders. This particular lesson focuses on the third grade California Social Studies, Language Arts, Science, and Fine Arts Content Standards and Curriculum. This lesson can be modified for any grade level. This service learning activity began with a class discussion on Cesar Chavez and community service. The students then shared their ideas of what they thought they could do for their community. Their ideas were listed on the board then a class vote was taken on which community need they wanted to work on. Being predominately an agriculture farm community surrounded by hillsides, mountains and national forest the majority of the students were knowledgeable on the importance of trees and plant life in their community. They decided to plant trees and plants around their school with a concentration on planning, construction, and maintaining a community school garden for the Upper Ojai community to share.