Community and schools come together for Arbor Day
Planting a tree Thursday at four Brainerd area schools not only celebrated Arbor Day, but it brought the community and the schools together.
The Mid-Minnesota Builders Association sponsored the Arbor Day events for the first time this year. The participating schools were Eagle View Elementary School in Pequot Lakes, Lake Region Christian School in Baxter and Riverside Elementary School and St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School in Brainerd.
Rosemary and her mom, Kate Peck, looked over free seedlings Friday at the Northland Arboretum. Several displays on conservation, gardening and birds were housed in the shelter in recognition of Arbor Day.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
"We all have a place we call home and the (Arbor Day) program takes us back to the basics," MMBA executive director Colleen Faacks said. "It's amazing how much the students know and learn."
The National Association of Home Builders developed a curriculum a few years ago titled "Homes Of Our Own." The curriculum is directed for second-grade children, which begins with a brief video educating students about the stages of a tree, the importance of tree preservation, planting trees and its environmental benefits. The objective of the curriculum is to increase understanding of the process of building a house, as well as the environmental and community issues surrounding home building.
Faacks said it's important for the community to be involved in the schools. Faacks said the program educated students about the home building process and how builders have to be aware of the environmental concerns when building a house. Faacks said 25 trees are used to build a house. She encouraged builders to have five tree seedlings planted for each house built.
The students Thursday saw firsthand that it takes more than just one person to build a house. At each school, three businesses were involved in the event.
The tree at Riverside School was sponsored by Alliance Lending Network LLC and was planted by Backberg Construction and Dan's Sod Service; the Lake Region tree was sponsored by Close Converse and planted by B-Dirt and Erickson's Greenhouse; the St. Francis tree was sponsored by People's Security Co. and planted by Backberg Construction and Dan's Sod Service; the Eagle View tree was sponsored by Menards and Bunn Masonry and planted by Heritage Minnesota.
Riverside principal Cathy Engler said the Arbor Day program is wonderful. Engler said Jana Johnson's first-grade class was involved in planting a flowering crab tree in front of the school to replace a tree that died there last year.
"This program teaches the students about nature and why we have trees," said Engler. "They celebrate trees and the best part of the program is the students get to see that the community cares about them."
As part of the program, Engler said each kindergarten student was to receive a tree Friday to take home.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.