On May 16th and 17th, students from the Middle Years Shared Ecological Education Centre (MY SEEC), from Salt Spring Island, visited our Learning Centre for one of our Two-Day Educational Adventures. This is a program where groups stay overnight at the Millard Learning Centre, and during the day take part in two of our hands-on educational program. This group chose Coastal Forests of Pebble Beach, and The Future of Food.

The first day, we started off by hiking through the Vanilla Leaf Land Nature Reserve, then down to Pebble Beach. Along the way, we met some trees, tasted some Oregon grape and did a teaching train to learn more about what make a healthy forest. A teaching train is an educational activity where participants take turns becoming the teacher, sharing what they’ve learned with each other.  

At Pebble Beach, we found some spawning midshipman fish!

Photo: Kelvin Grove

We then concluded the day by pulling down a tree, which proved to be a difficult one. The activity is part of the students’ work in actually helping to restore a plantation forest to a healthy ecosystem

Pulling down a tough tree, to clear space in the forest canopy.

On day two, we visited the Galiano Conservancy Forest Garden, where the focus was on learning about pollinators. The kids helped out by planting pollinator-friendly flowers, then got to play some pollinator games.

After a visit to the bee hive and a taste of honey, everyone relaxed in the shade with some tea that the kids had harvested and brewed themselves.

Hanging out.

We look forward to next year’s educational adventure with our MYSEEC friends.