Cool Places for Cool Kids

Topa Topa Elementary is located in the small town of Ojai, just north of Ventura. The school has an enrollment of 510 students with approximately 35 percent classified as non-white. The students from two third grade classes were prompted to create a community resource map and brochure for the Ojai Trolley called "Cool Places for Cool Kids in the Ojai Valley" after using the Ojai Trolley for numerous field trips to local landmarks. The development of the brochure came about when the students realized how important the trolley's brochure was to getting around Ojai and when they also recognized there were no materials for teachers, kids, and visitors about the community of Ojai. This project focused on the history-social science academic content standards by directing students to contact multiple resources to understand local history. In addition, the use of mapmaking writing strategies satisfied various language arts standards.