Join us for an unforgettable day at The Center
The Center guides OUSD learners through explorative and seasonal garden and culinary-focused field trips that grow students' understanding of the food system and challenge them to become action-oriented stewards of the Earth.
Field Trip Overview
OUSD's Central Kitchen, Education Center, and Instructional Garden/Farm (The Center) is an experiential learning site that features a productive vegetable and herb garden, a greenhouse, an industrial kitchen, and several indoor and outdoor classrooms. During field trips, students navigate these spaces to sharpen culinary skills, harvest and observe edible plants, and think through how farms and gardens connect to OUSD school meals, social inequalities, and the broader food system.
3rd and 6th Grade Field Trips
3rd and 6th-grade field trips follow a preset model where learners rotate through seasonal lessons that incorporate garden exploration, harvesting produce, and preparing/eating components of their lunch that day. Examples of station activities include making fresh corn tortillas, building legume trellises, and crafting pressed flower windows.
High School Field Trips
High school field trips are tailored to the individual Career Technical Education and project-based classes. For these, The Center collaborates with teachers to align the field trip activities to the projects being learned in class. These field trips typically involve a farm-to-table style meal which the learners help create.
Field Trips Primary Goals
Be aligned to and uplift academic standards, specifically Next Generation Science Standards and History and Social Science Standards
Be aligned to and uplift the nutrition and personal and community health standards from the California Health Education Framework
Be designed to deepen knowledge and skills of the science (FOSS) and developing History and Social Science curriculum (newsELA)
Embrace and integrate principles and themes from the OUSD Ethnic Studies Framework
Incorporate activities rooted in and connected to the OUSD Graduate Profile
Include pre- and post-field trip lessons to optimize student learning and engagement
Be structured around hands-on learning stations that engage students in garden/farm stewardship, culinary/nutritional education, sustainability practices, STEAM activities, and civic/social actions
Feature connection to the school meal program, the school meal menus, and food and nutrition security
Be led by Center Education Staff and partners
Cover transportation costs for school sites
Follow all COVID safety guidelines
Sample Field Trip Itinerary
8:45-9:00am Departure from School
9:15am-9:30am Arrival, Orientation & Opening Circle
9:30am-11:45am Rotations through Learning Stations
11:55am-12:25pm Lunch
12:25pm-12:40pm Closing Circle
12:45pm Departure from Center
*Itinerary will be adjusted to match field trip model & can be slightly adjusted to accommodate school schedules
Scheduling a Field Trip
Registration opens to OUSD 3rd, 6th, and High School classes each year in August and all field trip dates are filled by the end of September. If you'd like to be added to this school year's cancellation list or next year's sign up list please email Troy Wilson at troy.wilson@ousd.org.
