An Anacapa Day
As a follow-up to our recent Synthesis Unit, Food: You are What You Eat, Anacapa left after morning classes on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, to visit the renowned Roots Organic Farm in Los Olivos. For Nutrition Break that morning, the school provided everyone with a big bowl of Jacob Grant’s famously sweet carrots, which had been purchased the day before from the Roots stand at the Tuesday Farmers Market. The carrots were gobbled up in no time!
As coincidence would have it, there was an amazing exhibition that day of digital images taken from space at the Wilding Museum in Los Olivos. A collection of Landsat 7 scenes created for aesthetic rather than scientific interpretation enriched the imaginations of students and faculty. With Anacapa’s Near Space Exploration Club (ANSEC) almost ready to launch AAHAB-2 (Anacapa Amateur High Altitude Balloon-2) into the stratosphere, it was a golden opportunity to connect our student explorers with amazing views of Earth from space. Students also saw Aerial Abstractions by local photographer Bill Dewey, which featured rare photos of Santa Barbara County taken from his plane.
Next stop: Roots Organic Farm. Former Anacapa student, Jacob Grant, met our bus and took us on a beautiful walk through the Santa Ynez Valley countryside to his leased 25 acres. He plants what he likes, changing the variety based on what works best and what’s in season.
What makes Jacob famous is the quality of his product. “I make sure everything I put on my table has been picked that day, and I never sell leftovers,” he says. As for his legendary carrots, “They are just far superior in the fall and winter,” says Grant. “But you have to know when to pick them; that’s the secret.” Along with explaining how his different crops are grown, Jacob provided the students with many insights into the business details involved in his farming enterprises.
After saying goodbye to Jacob at our impromptu bus stop, we headed off to Midland School for a soccer match. The Anacapa student and faculty fans took the opportunity while the team was warming up to tour Midland’s farming operations. Much of the food consumed by students and teachers at Midland is farmed on their beautiful campus. Midland’s farmer, Katie Isaacson, took us on a tour and explained how Midland’s farm provides organic produce, fruit, and meat for the school. The pigs were definitely the hit!
When the kick-off began another Midland/Anacapa game, we quickly departed the farm to cheer the Islanders on! The Midland/Anacapa “friendly” competition has been going on now for 20 years. In all of those years, Anacapa has never lost a match. Helping Anacapa maintain our undefeated record was the very positive attitude of everyone, and the expert coaching of Hugo Macario and Megan Nesland. Standouts were the Macario brothers, who scored all 3 goals (Esai 2 and Isaac 1). Our goalie Francis Brand fended off numerous Midland shots, one of which was fired by his sister, Lily Brand, who is a senior at Midland! Anacapa senior Douglas Throop’s work on defense was determined and highly effective. The final score was 3-2 for an Anacapa Win!
February 15, 2012, was an Anacapa kind of day: lots of experiential learning with synthetic connections, teamwork, and FUN! Go Islanders!