Among butterflies and under shady trees, students and faculty explored and discovered the Kirsch Center and Cheeseman Environmental Study Area during the center’s first Earth Day event on April 29.

Throughout the area, six stations were spaced out with activities ranging from educational science exhibits, hands-on eco-experiments, themed games and plant dissections.

Mesh butterfly habitats sprawled across various rooms in Kirsch Center, with monarch caterpillars inching around inside, some already cocooning.

Event goers were taught about the monarch life cycle, their migration and how plants, such as milkweed, help them survive.

The ESA is a lush 1.5 acre natural garden, with over 400 species of native plants, a freshwater marsh and a waterfall.

“What we want students to take away is just to see how beautiful the ESA is and the biodiversity here, because a lot of people don’t know that the ESA even exists,” said Elif Ipekci, 20, studio arts major and president of the Zero Waste Club.

“We wanted to make a game that’s both fun and informative, that shows people that the ESA is a really great place that you might not even know about, and we want people to be involved,” Ipekci said.

Alicia De Toro, chair of the environmental studies department, said that the place is open to and benefits everyone.

“A long time ago, when I was a student here, I acknowledged that there was a mental health benefit to me doing the studies in the environment,” De Toro said. “There’s a lot that nature provides us through our ecosystem services and getting in touch with that seems to be a gateway for students.”

De Toro said that the gardens and Kirsch Center are a living classroom and hold the answers to many questions students may have.

“‘The air is smoggy, where does that come from?’ ‘My grandfather got cancer, where does that come from?’ A lot of students have similar observations and they don’t find those questions answered in some of the other classes,” De Toro said. “They come here and they realize this is a space where they can explore these different topics around our environment and humans.”

The Earth Day event was a collaboration between the De Anza Student Government, the environmental studies department and environmentally focused clubs, working together to create a new tradition as they plan to make this a yearly event.

Michi Ozaki, 20, computer science major and DASG chair of Environmental Sustainability, hailed it as a big success.

Ozaki said he hoped attendees got the opportunity to learn about and appreciate the Kirsch Center, the ESA’s gardens and the resources both have to offer.

The Earth Day event showcased De Anza’s calm, scenic hidden gem, and left many in awe of the area and what it has to offer.

Jill Quigley, English faculty member, learned about the event from De Toro, and observed how the atmosphere seemed different at the Kirsch Center and ESA than around the rest of campus.

“I feel like once you’re here, you don’t want to leave,” Quigley said. “There’s a calm energy here, and it’s really a miraculous place where student learning feels like play and political at the same time.”