This September, New Pioneers and the Loretto Community welcomed 22 homeschool students and their parents to the Loretto Motherhouse Farm for a field trip across campus! This homeschool crew includes students from the Little Garden School in Clarkson, KY, and members of a homeschool group in Hardin County, KY, who joined us to explore pollinators & pumpkins!

We started the fun-filled morning with some free play to catch and identify bugs! Then, we had an interactive group conversation about pollinators, featuring real bugs and visual aids. This conversation prepared students for a scavenger hunt along the native pollinator habitat on campus, searching for fall-blooming flowers, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators!

Next, we hopped on a tractor ride with Farmer Cody and Angela Rakes, the Outreach Coordinator for the Loretto Community, who helped students understand how pumpkin flowers are pollinated. Once we arrived at the pumpkin patch, students took time to choose one to take home!

Later, we returned to the Old Tobacco Barn and decorated our pumpkins with items from nature. Students truly put their creativity to work by creating unique faces, animals, and other pictures out of leaves, sticks, acorns, seeds, and more!

Thank you to the wonderful homeschool families that joined us for this lovely morning, and to the Loretto Community for another successful partnership!