When Grade one recently visited Green Studies, their normal lesson turned out to be not so normal.

As the children came down to the nursery to prepare seedlings, they arrived at an instant catastrophe. The Mepantigan mud put was being drained for a session the following day but the water level dropped much faster than predicted.

As the Grade Ones arrived, they were called by Ibu Susun and Ibu Pera to help. The fish that were in the Mepantigan pit were stuck in the mud, and due to the low water level, the tropical sun was heating up the water quickly.

The kids could tell by looking at the struggling fish that this was a dilemma that needed their help.

Without negotiation, the kids jumped in and began scooping out the fish and releasing them into a nearby stream. The children spoke with urgency as they discussed ways to speed up their work and save more fish.

Knee-deep in mud, the children shared endless ideas and solutions, not pausing for a moment to consider what any of the adults might say about their muddy appearance. For an educator witnessing this scene, magic was at play.

The children were joyfully immersed in the self-directed choice to be activists and change-makers, even at this small scale. This is at the heart of student agency: the special experience where children take control of their learning and turn it into action, a place where learning and doing becomes one.

Green School Skills such as Adapt, Solving Problems, Activate and Communicate were alive in this real, teachable moment. Moments like these beautifully reveal the inner landscape of children where the values such as integrity, responsibility, and empathy emerge instinctively and joyfully. At this very moment of real hands-on learning, our children experience a sense of purpose, connection, and belonging.

As a community, we can be proud of the future generation we are nurturing as conscious change-makers.

Observed and documented with love by the Green Wellbeing Team