Some students at Sacred Heart Catholic School braved some rain and got their hands dirty on Friday afternoon, May 26, to plant some trees around the school.
Joanne McCreery, principal at the Port Lambton school, told the Sydenham Current they were successful in obtaining a grant through the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority and the Lambton Public Health Unit.
“We were offered eight trees to plant in our yard for beautification but also sun safety and health in the yard,” she said.
“We are very excited about it and we were allowed to choose location, so we worked with our facilities department to figure out the best places to put them. We were able to choose native trees from Ontario as well. We have a couple of bur oaks, a couple of locust, one is a honey locust, a red maple, a silver maple. We spread them out all over the yard. We have kind of placed them in areas where either it is a blank spot or where we know kids will be playing so they have some sun protection.”
McCreery said it was a great learning experience for the students, who were out with school staff and representatives from the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority and the Lambton Public Health Unit.
“We have been kind of been talking about how we’re the care takers of the trees,” she said.
“We wanted to get the younger students involved because they are going to have the longest time with them and hopefully they will appreciate looking after them. Earlier in the year we had a water challenge and so now it goes hand in hand with the trees.”
McCreery added: “I said to them today on the announcements ‘you see where all the cones are, we want you to leave the cones there, but when you come back to school on Monday there is going to be an amazing beautiful tree in that spot.’ So it’s pretty exciting.”
Sacred Heart was one of five schools in Lambton County who were chosem to help plant a greener tomorrow.
Thanks to a grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Tomorrow’s Greener Schools Today program, Lambton Public Health and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority were able to partner with the local schools.
“Trees provide schools with a more natural environment and shade coverage for their outdoor areas,” said Martina Jackson, Health Promoter at Lambton Public Health, in a press release.
“Trees also play an integral role in outdoor classrooms by offering opportunities to educate and engage students in and with the environment.”
At each of the five tree plantings, representatives from Lambton Public Health and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority will educate students on the benefits of trees.
Lambton Public Health officials say tree cover in Lambton County is about half the recommended level for a healthy environment.
Shade trees provide a wide-range of benefits: from improved air quality and natural schoolyard cooling, to protection from cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation.
For more information about Tomorrow’s Greener Schools Today, call 519-344-2062 ext. 2162, toll-free 1-800-387-2882 or visit www.lambtonhealth.on.ca.
Here are some videos from the afternoon:
Tree planting at @SacredHeartPLCS in #PortLambton @lambton_ph @SCRCA_water 🌳1/3 pic.twitter.com/WuYf5Ht2M0
— Sydenham Current (@SydenhamCurrent) 26 May 2017
Tree planting at @SacredHeartPLCS in #PortLambton @lambton_ph @SCRCA_water 🌳2/3 pic.twitter.com/N9s3SiC29a
— Sydenham Current (@SydenhamCurrent) 26 May 2017
Tree planting at @SacredHeartPLCS in #PortLambton @lambton_ph @SCRCA_water 🌳3/3 pic.twitter.com/0bbQu8D65V
— Sydenham Current (@SydenhamCurrent) 26 May 2017
Here are some photos from the afternoon:
– Photo credit: Aaron Hall
