A true field trip

Sitting under the sun in an Irvine agricultural field, the Andersen Elementary School fourth-graders were tired, achy, dirty and sweaty from farming ... and it had only been 90 minutes.

“It must be awful doing this every day for 11 hours,” said Lisa Hamilton, 10, as she struggled to peel the quickly drying mud from her sneakers. “I can’t imagine doing this all day.”

That may be the exact kind of reaction teachers were hoping for Tuesday. Lisa, by far one of most energetic at this point in the day when so many others were now dragging their feet, said she had a new understanding of what César Chavez was fighting for all those years ago when he created the United Farm Workers of America.

In recognition of César Chavez Day, Andersen students headed out to the Incredible Edible Park in Irvine on Tuesday morning to plant and pull crops just like real farm workers do on a daily basis. Hopefully parents sent their kids out that day in their play clothes, because not a one of them got out of the fields spotless.

Cameron Schank, 9, was taking off his gardening gloves and helping Lisa scrape off a thick layer of mud from her shoes when he complained that he was already tired, and his back was aching a bit.

“It’s really hard,” Cameron said. “I’d protest if I had to do this every day.”

All over the field, children from local schools picked crops. A class from another school loaded boxes of freshly picked lemons onto a Second Harvest Food Bank truck while Newport-Mesa kids prepared for another walk out into the dirt.

“I would hope they would gain some respect for the UFW, and think what it would be like to be a United Farm Worker,” said Tim Reese, a fourth-grade teacher at Andersen.

The hands-on experience was a break from the classroom education, where kids were able to recite how many people showed up to Chavez’s funeral, and when he created the UFW.

“He helped a lot of people, it was a great sacrifice,” Lisa said.

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Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.