LAGUNA BEACH : Field Trip a New World for Students

It looked like just another hike through the pristine hills of Laguna Canyon by a group of elementary school students. But for the students from Madison Elementary School in Santa Ana, it was a trip to a different world.

Eyes wide with wonder, 60 second- and third-grade students hiked under sunny skies Monday among yellow wildflowers at the James Dilley Greenbelt Preserve as part of a field trip designed to let them see some of the animals and plants that they had begged to see after classroom lessons about conservation and wildlife piqued their curiosity.

“They’re real happy to be here,” said teacher Julie Phillips. “You can see it in their faces, the wonder. We wanted to get them out of Santa Ana and see things they wouldn’t normally see.”

She said the nature hike was a rare experience for the children because the two excursions they take each year are usually trips to museums. “These kids don’t get to the beach or open space. This is a chance for them to explore and discover,” she said.

One student, 8-year-old Efren Ledezma, said he had never been anywhere like it. “It’s great. You can hear birds. There’s no cars.”

Throughout the 90-minute hike, children stopped frequently to huddle around scurrying woolly caterpillars, animal tracks left in dried mud, and to watch turkey vultures soar overhead. They trekked down a dirt path surrounded by fragrant flowers and wild mustard plants while honeybees and monarch butterflies darted through the air.

Following the path, which wound by a placid lake and up a ridge, the students pointed often and repeatedly shouted, “What’s that?” to their chaperons and preserve guide Mike Phillips, their teacher’s husband and a coordinator of the trip.

After pointing out a potato bug to the group and allaying fears that it might bite, Mike Phillips introduced the group to some of nature’s less attractive features. He sniffed the air and asked, “Anyone want to know what a skunk smells like? Take a deep breath.” Several children did just that and recoiled, shouting, “Ewwwwwww!”

After the hike, the students went by bus to Heisler Park, which overlooks the ocean, for lunch. There, many of them recounted their experiences on the hike, such as their first glimpses of a bird egg, anthills and a hawk.

“I saw some footprints of a pocket mouse and I saw a geese,” said Carlos Pantoja, 9.

“I saw a black caterpillar,” added Phalla Kong, also 9. “It was fast and fuzzy and it was small.”