By Meha Senthil and Mike Kelly

Mesa Verde Middle School (MVMS) in Rancho Peñasquitos sits on the northeast border of a canyon owned and managed by the Friends of Los Peñasquitos, a canyon the Friends call Mesa Verde Canyon. Several MVMS parents approached the Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve about using the open space behind their school to create nature learning opportunities in conjunction with developing a nature mural on their campus. This simple idea turned into a multi-month engagement. Del Brooks, a board member from the Friends, along with City of San Diego park rangers, helped create a differentiated curriculum to be delivered to the 6th, 7th and 8th graders during their science period. The curriculum focused on the diversity present in the open space in the school’s backyard as well as nearby open spaces in our community.

In January 2025, over three intense “Nature Immersion Days,” Friends board members Del Brooks, Beth Mather and Mike Kelly were joined by City of San Diego park rangers and interns Gina Washington, Melanie Fontana, Megan Delaney, Cassidy White, Brianna Bennett, and former ranger and now senior biologist with Environmental Services J.J. Paetow, in delivering the curriculum. These expert docents manned five interpretive stations that were set up in the school’s back fields near the fence that overlooks the canyon. The idea was to show a physical connection to what the students would be learning.

Some 1200 students rotated through the displays, with one day for each of the three grades. Each class was split into groups of five and each group spent about 10 minutes at each station before rotating to the next. Docents effectively delivered the same lesson 35 times each day!

One station was a tule boat station featuring a tule boat built by Del Brooks from tule reeds, harvested in the Friends’ Canyon. The entire boat was displayed on the table, which the students could touch. Many had a hard time believing that the Kumeyaay would use such a boat to set out to sea for fishing!

The second station focused on some of the animals that live around us in our open spaces. One of the topics was bees and the role of bees in our ecosystems. The Multiple Species Conservation Plan and its impact on protecting San Diego open spaces was also discussed.

The third station centered on oak trees, their acorns, and the role of the acorn woodpecker. It included a “storage log” from a dead tree that had hundreds of holes drilled by the woodpeckers and often filled with acorns they had harvested and stored for wintertime food. A stuffed woodpecker highlighted the display. The students also learned how to determine if acorns were viable by dropping them into a beaker of water. Intact acorns sink to the bottom; damaged acorns float because insects had drilled into them and eaten the germ plasm which was replaced by air.

The fourth station featured some of our important native plants that support our native bees, butterflies, insects and creatures. In addition to learning about these plants, the students made seed balls by squeezing native seeds into a clay ball then tossing the balls over the fence into the canyon. They understood some of the seeds would hopefully sprout into native plants to help replace weeds in the canyon.

The fifth station was the sensory station where students used their ears, their noses, their eyes and their sense of touch to experience the nature around them in the middle of the playfield!

Over 98% of students reacted positively to the experience.

Next, students were invited to suggest mural proposals for the handball courts based on what they had learned at the Nature Immersion Days. Artists from the non-profit ArtReach used student proposals and the nature curriculum provided to create two mural suggestions. In March 2025, the entire student body as well as teachers, staff, alumni and community voted for their favorite design. Votes were tallied and ArtReach prepared the winning design.

Finally in April 2025 the mural came to life. Almost 200 students and community members helped paint the mural on April 5th. The Friends had a table at the painting event as did I Love a Clean San Diego talking about composting and recycling. The parents created a fun knowledge game based on what the student had learned and the mural. Over the next three weeks, artists from ArtReach finalized the mural and put the finishing touches! This mural is the largest mural in Poway Unified School District and is a vibrant and visual daily reminder of why we need to learn about and protect our environment.