Planting Trees

One of the best things about being in a K-8 environment is that you get to do "FUN" stuff. This morning, some kids from Jefferson came to our class and did a tree planting with our kids (at Humboldt).

Part service learning project (this field across from Jefferson is a community space), part environmental remediation (apparently the Jefferson football team practices out in this field in the summer and since it has no shade, it gets very hot); Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) provided logistical support for a morning of tree planting by students from both schools. The kids came out and planted a couple dozen NW Native trees (Doug Firs, Cedars, Oaks, etc). Never did see Tom Potter or any members of the media out there, but I got muddy and helped supervise the kids (some of the high school kids weren't exactly on task either-I actually had to tell one girl to get off her cellphone and set a better example). I wish a little more work had been done on the educational side of it, but took it upon myself to use the moment to teach the kids something about trees.

"Portland Parks & Recreation will be working with 50 Jefferson High School students and 120 students from adjacent Humboldt Elementary School to plant the nine different species of native trees. The planting will transform the empty school field into a diverse arboretum complete with educational signs to educate students and the surrounding neighborhood about Oregon's native trees and urban ecology."

Located just three blocks east of I-5 (don't you love how low-income neighborhoods bear the brunt of air pollution?), these large evergreen trees will reduce noise and air pollution, sequester carbon, beautify school grounds and create a native school arboretum that will teach students about life cycles & native ecology. The tree planting coincides with Mayor Tom Potter's week at Jefferson High School...A PP&R City Nature Forestry crew will help with the planting and discuss careers in the field of arboriculture with the students."

Of course, being January in Portland, the kids whined incessantly about being cold and about getting dirty, (but I think some of them secretly enjoyed it). If nothing else, they were enamored with being able to spend time with high school kids. I heard more than a few of the kids in my class saying "Those high school kids were TIGHT!" At any rate, most of them learned something from it, and some kids that don't tend to behave very well indoors were actually class "leaders" in outdoor settings.

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