Alouette Elementary students swapped out their pencils for shovels to help plant three trees in a joint initiative between the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District and the City of Maple Ridge.
“The idea is to sensitize students about climate change and provide them information on how tree [planting] can help drive the future,” said Ashish Dev, SD42 energy and environmental sustainability manager.
Students planted two bur oaks and one Hungarian oak at Alouette Park – trees that will eventually reach 60 to 80 feet tall with canopy spreads of 30 to 40 feet.
“Trees are important because we need to help our ecosystem and community,” said Grade 5 student Valentina.
The city crew got to work ahead of time, digging the holes and placing the trees in the ground to make sure they were ready for the students.
“We got the machine out here to put the trees in the ground,” said Malcolm McCulloch, Maple Ridge’s urban forestry supervisor. “And then [the students] were out there to help us align the trees and backfill them in, and they look wonderful. The kids did an awesome job.”
It was all about making sure the tree was stable, Valentina explained.
“We had to put the shovel in the mud, [and then] in the little holes, so we would make the tree stable and it wouldn’t fall,” she said, adding it was “kind of hard” because the mud was hard to shovel.
Technique was key, according to Grade 5 student Skyla.
“I took the shovel, slammed it into the dirt, and I pulled it up,” she said. “Lots of dirt, so I just dumped it in the hole.”
After that, the students had to flatten out the soil.
“They were jumping around the trees, giving them hugs – it was great,” said McCulloch.
At the same time, McCulloch added, the city crew were helping the students identify the trees to educate them on which trees they were planting.
The tree planting drive at Alouette Park in September was part of the city’s 1,000 trees project, funded by the federal government and delivered through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Growing Canada’s Community Canopies initiative.
“We thought it would be a great idea to reach out to the school [district] and try to set up some plantings throughout the city,” said McCulloch.
Students from Laity View Elementary, Golden Ears Elementary, Thomas Haney Secondary, Maple Ridge Secondary, and ci:tməxw Environmental Community also took part in tree planting drives at nearby parks.
Dev said the hands-on experience teaches students how they can take action on climate change and make a difference.
“The hope is that students learn [that] every small step counts, you know? A small step can help them build a beautiful community,” said Dev.