Posted on Monday, May 3, 2010
Three groups came on April 21 to plant trees at the Field Station nine days ahead of National Arbor Day. Two groups of 33 were from Wilmington Elementary School on a field day and over 50 children and parents were from Westminster's Preschool celebrating family night.
Arbor Day, the nationwide day to celebrate trees, was April 30, and more than a dozen preschool children from Lawrence County Head Start School came to finish the season's tree planting with a flourish.
Altogether these children placed more than 150 tree seedlings into the fertile ground of the Nursery at the Field Station. Each child of any of these ages planted at least one seedling of American beech, white pine, Eastern hemlock, or Virginia pine in the Nursery to generate transplants to various sections of the Field Station, main campus, and community in years to come. The purchase of the seedlings came through the generous support of the New Wilmington Kiwanis Club.
The children's enthusiasm was evident by noise and movement. They minded not one whit at getting their hands dirty, selecting a tree, scooping up compost, covering the roots, and doing the tree dance. They learned that the tree dance is a necessary part of the routine. For this, children stand close to their tree to press the dirt around the roots and make two circles in a dance step as they chant (or whisper), "I love you, tree."
The trees are true symbols of so much of what makes our world green and livable. Like children, seedling trees begin life in a nursery and then leave that protected enclave to move out into the real world. Nurseries are important, but they are not the end result. In future years these seedlings, just like the children, should grow up to become handsome and useful components of our environment. Arbor Day teaches us that trees and children are valuable and necessary.
Joan Altman, first grade teacher in Wilmington Elementary School, has been bringing her classes out to the Field Station for nearly a decade. According to her, the students were extremely excited to learn the process of planting a tree as many had never done that. Kathy Shelenberger, another first grade teacher, saw this experience as taking care of the earth, not by words but actions.
One of the children promised to return to the Field Station. And he did, several days later to proudly show his mother the tree he had planted. Trees can lead the way to a good life well beyond Earth and Arbor Days.
Here are eight reasons we need trees: trees make oxygen, purify the air, regulate temperature, reduce soil erosion, provide homes to birds, minimize noise pollution, provide shade, and give us one more reason to be outdoors. If that's not love, what is?
Clarence Harms, Director
Field Station
harmsc@westminster.edu
