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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
Life in the
Valley y
sanews@salem.gannett.com
THE OREGON GARDEN
PHOTOS BY ORCA STAFF / SPECIAL TO THE STAYTON MAIL
Brenda Ballinger, a third-grade teacher at Oregon Connections Academy from Silverton, holds a pink Magnolia flower while 13-year old Matt Yigzaw, an eighth-grade student from Sherwood,
takes notes during a field trip to The Oregon Garden.
Cultivating green thumbs
Students get botany lesson during trip to Oregon Garden
JUSTIN MUCH
STAYTON MAIL
A wet early spring did not deter a number of Oregon
Connections Academy students, who took advantage of
The Oregon Garden setting for a refreshing field-trip
lesson on Thursday, April 18.
ORCA Outreach Manager Laura Dillon described the
outing as an educational field trip about botany. ORCA
high school science teacher Michael Rodriguez of
Corvallis conducted the lesson, while a dozen other
teachers from around the state joined a dozen students
and parents.
“Students learned the evolution of plant life including
the diverse forms of reproductive and vascular
structures, pollination, photosynthetic aspects and much
more,” Dillon said. “Students also discovered how to
identify various plants and trees native to Oregon.”
Two dozen students, parents and teachers turned out for the field trip with a focus on botany.
Oregon Connections Academy high school science teacher Michael
Rodriguez quizzes students, including freshmen Mikayla Wood and Sidney
Kincaid, about Sword Ferns.
Colorful blooms greeted ORCA students during their field trip to The Oregon Garden.