Circling The News

(Editor’s note: This is part two of a story about the agriculture and animals at Revere Middle School.)

Carrie Robertson “turns” the hot compost bin on the Revere campus. The cold compost bin is behind her.

Carrie Robertson, who has worked at Paul Revere Charter Middle School since 2011, was named the “Outstanding Educator of the Year” by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom in December.

Robertson received a Literacy for Life grant, and $500 to fund a worm bin project, “Urban Worms: Food Waste Warriors” plus an additional $1,000 for other projects.

“I was frustrated with food waste on this campus,” Robertson said. “There is a great deal of waste, especially with vegetables.” The farm receives vegetables and salad that was going to be thrown in the trash and “we use the food waste in our compost bin.”

Robertson is teaching her students the difference between hot and cold composting. In the cold compost bin, first there is a layer of brown material (leaves, small branches, cardboard) and then a layer of green material such as food waste is added. Every week or two the material is turned or more material can be added – and stirred. The material decomposes and after several months, the compost can be used as a soil amendment.

She also has a hot compost, too, and showed her students how hot it can get by cooking an egg in it. “It cooked solid,” Robertson said about the egg. In a hot compost, generally around 150 degrees, high-nitrogen materials are required, such as chicken waste.  At that temperature, weed seeds and disease pathogens die. She raked the hot compost and had this editor smell it.

It was a rich earthy smell. “We don’t want a manure smell at the farm,” Robertson said. “We’ve been inspired by ‘Kiss the Ground.’” The film is a full-length documentary that examines “regenerative agriculture.”

The film notes that “The way we currently grow the majority of our food, fiber, and fuel is actually damaging our planet’s ecosystem at an alarming rate through loss of topsoil, loss of biodiversity, desertification, habitat destruction, and air and water pollution.”

One of the ways to stop damaging the ecosystem is by improving soil health by moving carbon from the atmosphere back into the soil.

Another 2020 documentary that students watched was “The Biggest Little Farm” about an organic and biodynamic farm located 40 miles north of Los Angeles. That farm’s goal is to make the land more productive and biodiverse over time. “One of the key components of healthy soil is organic matter, which is anything that is alive or was once living, such as a plant root, an earthworm, or a microbe.”

Earthworms are used for composting and can help keep food waste out of landfill. Unavoidable food waste, such as eggshells, vegetable peels and tea bags can be “recycled’ by worms. They eat the scraps, which become compost as it passed through the worm’s body.  That compost becomes organic fertilizer.

Worm farms are low maintenance and efficient at processing organic matter.

“We try to keep everything here,” said Robertson, who in addition to adding a “worm farm” is planning a research project on oak species for the spring.

The planting area was under construction in 2021 to 2022 to replace an existing sidewalk back to the grape vines with an almost exact duplicate, but “Sometimes when there is a challenge, you can rethink things,” she said. “Lot of ideas come from the kids.”

The students are responsible for weeding and maintain the vineyard where several varieties of grapes are grown. “[Grapes] are a huge part of the state’s economy,” Robertson notes.

The Island Marrow is a native plant that is growing at Revere.

Kids do the weeding, the planting, the picking.  Students learn about native plants such as the Island Mallow, which is native to Catalina Island and super drought resistant—and growing well at its Revere home.

“Time in childhood should include authentic unstructured activities,” Robertson said. “It should be a time about personal discoveries about nature.

“The bottom line is kids need personal nature experiences,” she said.

If she could change anything, “I wish Palisades High School could create an animal science class, so the kids could continue with what they learn here.”

The Flemish rabbit goes up through a tunnel to his cage every night – to be safe from predators.

(Editor’s note: this is part one of a two-part story about Paul Revere Middle School Agricultural teacher. Today the story centers around the animals, tomorrow about dealing with food waste in an agricultural setting.)

Paul Revere teacher Carrie Robertson feeds the animals.

Carrie Robertson, who has worked at Paul Revere Charter Middle School since 2011, was named the “Outstanding Educator of the Year” by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom in December.

Robertson received a Literacy for Life grant, and $500 to fund a worm bin project, “Urban Worms: Food Waste Warriors” plus an additional $1,000 for other projects.

During the winter break, Circling the News stopped by to visit the Farm, a two-acre parcel on campus, that is surrounded by multi-million-dollar homes. Planning on a short trip to learn more about worm bins, this editor came away in wonderment after several hours at the farm. This is the only middle or high school campus on the westside that teaches horticulture or animal husbandry.

The animals, 11 chickens, five goats, a Flemish giant rabbit, two chinchillas, a pot-bellied pig and three guinea pigs came running to see the editor. All were rescues except for the chickens.

“They miss the students,” Robertson said and added that during the lunch hour between 100 and 150 students come the northernmost area of the campus to help care for the animals and hold them. Students also come to the area, which provides a meditative area to be with nature.

“These animals matter to the kids and students, who are in charge of all aspects of animal care,” said Robertson, the school’s agriculture teacher. More than 500 students, annually rotate through her classes in farming, gardening and animal science.

Robertson works with place-based education, which means using the local community and environment as a starting point to teach concepts across the curriculum.

“I was just teaching about P22 two weeks ago,” she said. “The news about him is devastating.”

The animal area underwent remodeling in 2019 in order that the kids could learn best practices for animals which include the five freedoms: 1) freedom from hunger and thirst; 2) freedom from discomfort; 3) freedom from pain, injury and disease; 4) freedom to express normal behavior; and 5) freedom from fear and distress.

Animal behavior included the goat “Billy” letting this editor know with a little shove that her place was behind him following Robertson through the yard and garden.

Students have built several enrichment “toys” for the animals, which are hung in cages. The focus on the enclosures is to keep the stress levels low.

The animals are shut up at night to protect them from predators, such as coyotes, bobcats and owls.

Pest-proof track cans were installed and “That was a huge change that had to happen,” Robertson said.

A pest-free trash bin was installed on the farm. In the background you can see the “pasture” and chicken coop.

Robertson also receives help during school breaks from Alejandro Juanillo, a local horse expert, who works at the stables across Sunset.

Parents help with financial support for the farm, and “This school community and administration is so supportive,” she said. Parents donations help pay for the animal feed.

One goal is to create and teach regenerative farming to students, who planted Bermuda grass by the cages and this semester planted rye grass and buckwheat and clover.

“The pasture is cooling and retains water. Once it was established, we haven’t had to water,” Robertson said, and noted that initially it was student leaders in the animal science lunch program, who monitored its growth. “The kids were protective of the grass and took ownership.

“I’m proud of my students, they do the right thing,” said Robertson, who lives in the San Fernando Valley. She grew up on her father’s cattle ranch in Agoura Hills and raised pigs and cattle while at Canoga Park High School, later graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in animal science.

At night animals are locked in cages to protect them from predators.