Giving a slice of their time

Deirdre Newman

IRVINE -- In an effort to combat hunger and malnutrition throughout

the county, a group of freshmen from Sage Hill School in Newport Coast

rolled up their sleeves and wove their way through a grove of trees to

pick oranges here Wednesday morning.

The students gathered a whopping 5,755 oranges as part of their first

day of service learning -- part of the school’s curriculum that connects

community service with topics in the classroom. After picking the oranges

in Irvine, the students bagged them for distribution at the Second

Harvest Food Bank Warehouse in Orange.

One of the founding principles of Sage Hill -- a private,

nondenominational high school that opened last fall -- is integrating

community service into the core classes. While the yearlong theme for

these freshmen is public health, Wednesday’s activity focused on hunger

and malnutrition -- two conditions that afflict a significant number of

Orange County residents, said A.G. Kawamura, a parent and trustee of the

high school.

“Why is there malnutrition? Why is there hunger?” Kawamura asked. “The

reasons are political, economical and historical in nature. An activity

like this can weave together an actual experience that helps augment the

learning from the academic side.”

Before the field trip to Irvine, students studied hunger and

malnutrition in the county, biology teacher Chris Raisbeck said.

Once they arrived at the site, they went after the oranges with gusto

-- climbing up trees, jumping as high as they could and using pickers to

dislodge the fruit from the trees. Even students such as Cyrus Charna,

whose arm was in a sling because of a broken collarbone, pitched in.

“It’s kind of like a battle, when the branch lets go, you’re happy,”

said Ryan Casserly, 14, a Newport Beach resident who compared the

physical skills required for orange-picking to playing lacrosse.Many of

the students agreed that getting out of the classroom and doing something

to help instead of just reading about the problems of hunger and

malnutrition was extremely worthwhile.

“I think it’s really important,” said Jessica Perlman, 14, of Newport

Coast. “If we don’t do it, who’s going to? No one has to help the

community. For those that do, the reward is not money, but a good

feeling.”

The students also felt good considering the fact that orange season is

nearing its end and the oranges would go to waste if not picked in time.

And their efforts will be appreciated soon, as the oranges are

expected to make their way to various food pantries as early as today,

said Jim Raguindin, traffic supervisor for the Second Harvest Food Bank.