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Beyond classes and field trips, students at The School for Field Studies participate in different outreach opportunities in the community. My first project, I helped one of my professors replant trees to reforest an area near an aqueduct in Atenas. The trees are grown in the greenhouse at the university and then actually planted when they are significantly larger. We also helped make fertilized soil for the trees to be planted in while they are growing at the center.

My second project I participated in leading orientation hikes to fifth graders in the forest nearby in Atenas. As preparation, we hiked through the forest learning the different aspects of the trees, butterflies and water in the forest and how to explain in Spanish. The next week, we picked up the children at the school and divided them into groups of seven. The children in my group were quick to answer in the review of the different trees and their importance. After leaving the forest, we provided fruit and juice for the kids and played ultimate Frisbee and red rover. Although all the children laughed at my Spanish abilities, the morning was really fun and rewarding!

One morning, all the students at the University helped with collecting and sorting recycling in Atenas. Residents, companies and organizations can drop off their recycling on Tuesday mornings and volunteers sort it right in town.

Most recently, we traveled to El Sur, a small community of 10 families and collected bug samples with the eight kids in the community. Then we looked at the bugs through microscopes, identified them and organized them into their different classes. After, we discussed what types of organisms can be found in clean water and determined if the bugs that are found in clean water were found in El Sur while the students drew pictures of the different bugs they had collected with colored pencils.

Location: Atenas, Costa Rica, El Sur, Costa Rica