More Than Just a Field Trip

A week ago our students took a school trip to Noggins Farm in Greenwich, Nova Scotia.

The weather couldn't have been any better.

The apple picking.  

The historic tour through the farm land. 

Carol.  Oh Carol. Our wonderful farm guide, leader filled with kindness, knowledge, and remarkable patience and leadership.  We asked her many times if we could take her back home with us. 

The corn maze.

The picnic lunch. 

The exploratory play grounds. 

The parents.  The parents! We had so many parents join us - it was like a family get together.  To see so much support and smiles was heartwarming, to say the least. 

Aside from all of these memories made, we were most impressed with our students.  Their respect and enthusiasm set the bar high for field trips to come. ​

The knowledge our students, teachers, and families gained from walking through the back farm lands; the real life experience of leading, role modelling, listening, problem solving, and working together; the hands on learning of apple picking and life on the farm; and, the critical thinking and questioning throughout the tour - it was heartwarming to see our students engaged in the community in a positive way.   

The discussions that followed included everything from Acadians, Mi'gmaq, Ice Age, Maritime Industries, government, buying local, entrepreneurship, traditions, cooking, baking, trees, culture - even Celtic music!  So many talking and learning points from a trip to the farm.  There is no learning quite like a field trip.  It's is, hands down (or hands-on!?) the best way to experience learning.  

Thank you Noggins for the experience, guidance, knowledge, and memories.  Thank you parents for joining us and allowing us to plan this trip with your child in mind. Thank you students for the upmost amazing behaviour on a school trip, respecting everyone and everything around us, and for soaking up all of the wonderfulness that is Noggins.   Thank you to our communities for supporting local farms and organizations that can teach growing generations so much about the world they're growing up in, a world we expect them to carry on and make changes for the better. 

We leave with a series of pictures that capture our day at the farm and discussions that followed. Grades Pre-K to grade 9 contributed a small token of artwork for this blog post to show you a few things they were thinking about post-farm trip. Hope you enjoy! ​

And yes, the apple crisp was very, very good!  For the recipe, see below!

Apple Crisp

Topping
⅔ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cup rolled oats
⅔ cup coconut sugar
½ cup coconut oil
1-2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Filling
8 cups of apples
⅔ cup of coconut sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350℉.

In a bowl, mix flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and coconut oil together until crumbly.

Core, peel and slice apples. In a bowl toss apples with lemon juice and sugar. Pour apples into a 9x13in pan. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over top of apples.

Bake for 35 minutes or until apple mixture is bubbly and topping is golden brown.