Opequon Elementary School, located in Martinsburg, West Virginia celebrated a breezy Earth Day outside planting 16 native trees on school grounds. Two Pre-kindergarten, six kindergarten, four first grade, and six second grade classes participated in the tree planting and were taught about the environmental benefits and proper care and maintenance of the trees. Classroom teachers helped to prepare their students for the tree planting by discussing the benefits of trees, including reducing erosion, increasing filtration, and other social and environmental benefits of increasing urban tree canopy.
Students from every class commented how excited they were because they’ve never planted a tree before, with many students asking questions about how big the trees will get and what they need to do to take care of the trees. Students displayed instaneous pride in planting the trees and were proud of the trees they had planted on Earth Day!
As the 50th CommuniTree school planting in Berkeley County alone, Opequon Elementary School project leader, Huston Johnson, could not have been happier to see students actively involved in the planting process and learning more about the local environment. Johnson described the planting as a “significant real-world, hands-on learning experience for the students.”
If you would like to learn more about this CommuniTree planting, or find out more information about how your school can participate in a CommuniTree project of your own, contact Cacapon Institute’s Communitree program at CTree@CacaponInstitute.org!
