Northwood may appear unchanging with its homogeneous sand-colored buildings, but actually, it’s growing. Taking root at several locations across campus, Honors Interdisciplinary Climate Explorations recently restored new life to Northwood by planting native plants near the media center with data collection initiatives.
After learning about IUSD’s plan to restore land near Northwood that the 2020 Silverado Fire burned, ICE wanted to bring both Northwood and indigenous voices to the table. The class planted 68 native species across six plots. These are located behind the 900s building and feature 19 unique species such as succulents, sages and flowers sourced from San Juan Capistrano’s Tree of Life Nursery.
“This project is part of our land unit focused on using indigenous wisdom to restore our relationship with the more-than-human world,” ICE teacher Nelly Tsai said. “Indigenous people have these mutual relationships with the natural world where instead of extracting resources, they think about the clean air and water as gifts from nature. So that’s where we think, ‘What is our relationship to the land?’”
ICE partnered with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy to organize community walks in Rattlesnake Canyon, Limestone Canyon and the Orchard Hills Loop Hike to explore the impacts of human interference and fires on Irvine’s ecosystem. They also learned about Indigenous stewardship from Chumash tribe member Deborah Sanchez.
Students experimented with factors like earthworm presence, soil types and cages to optimize plant growth and documented the data for each species with informative QR presentations.
To close the unit, students presented their findings to the IUSD Ground Supervisor and Sustainability Director in hopes of collaborating on a feasible, scalable solution for improving sustainability districtwide.
“The most exciting thing was interacting with a bunch of council members to implement this project,” junior Bradley Ly said. “I probably would never have had the opportunity to meet those individuals if I wasn’t in this class.”
Their commendable civic engagement recently garnered attention from the American Museum of Natural History, a New York-based museum that is currently producing a documentary about the class.
“If you are passionate about making a difference, like making real change, this is the course for you,” Tsai said. “We have a lot of community partnerships, internship opportunities and self-learning projects. We are taking learning outside of the four walls.”
ICE is open for eligible juniors and seniors who can apply through this form.
