From left, Kayla Tracy, Natalie Connell and Jordan Lavey break up the soil around their tree bulb. (Spenser Hasak)
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LYNNFIELD High school celebrated Arbor Day with a few projects that will not just beautify the outside, but also contribute to the protection of the environment and combating climate changes.
Armed with shovels, approximately 20 members of the school’s new Environmental Awareness Club rolled up their sleeves and got dirty, planting 16 new trees near the entrance to the teachers’ parking lot.
Georgia Milne, a club leader, and Jordan Lavey, a member of the board, said that the project had been in the works for almost a year. Both seniors said they were committed to protecting the environment.
“I just got fed up with people not doing anything. There’s been too much talk and not enough action,” said Lavey, who plans to major in environmental science at Virginia Tech. This idea was created by Georgia and me last August. We had to take action and thought this would be a really nice way to help the community, to make a tangible difference.”
“It feels great that this is all coming together and people are just as excited as we are,” said Milne, who plans to study politics at St. Anselm College this fall. “We are just trying to be kind to the planet and use our voices and actions for kindness. The greatest thing you can do is plant trees so it’s fitting that’s what we are doing on Arbor Day.”
Club advisor and science department chair Scott Gordon said the high-school property has lost a lot of trees over the years between neighbors’ removal, school renovations and the turf field project.
“This is filling a very important need for the property,” Gordon said. “One of our first acts is to try to reforest the campus as much as possible.”
The new arboretum was funded with $1,000 from the Public Works Department. It is located on the slope next to the tree and memorial benches.
All trees are native Massachusetts. The varieties include oaks and maples, birch and tulip trees. All of these trees are planted in close proximity. Gordon said that this mirrors the natural forests with closely-clustered tree species.
“We are foresting as opposed to landscaping,” Gordon said. “We are growing as the forest grows.”
Jane Bandini (Chair of the Tree Committee) stated that the trees will need to grow for about a year.
“These trees are a nice size, they’re easy to plant and take less time to take off and grow compared to the ones you see at nurseries that are much larger and much more expensive,” she said. “The big ones, that are maybe four to five calipers, take four to five years before they see growth.”
Gordon hopes the area will have multiple uses.
“We’ll be able to use the area as a teaching garden to teach tree identification in the classes, which is a class we teach along with things like climate change and ecology,” said Gordon. “We also hope the area will be just a pleasant place to relax during the day for a moment of mindfulness.”
Earlier in the day, students in one of Gordon’s classes planted a butterfly garden behind the school as part of a sustainability project. Gordon stated that the garden, which includes Joe Pye weed and milkweed, will begin to attract butterflies in the late summer.
Gordon stated that the club plans to apply for grant money next year to plant more trees at the high-school. The club has already identified potential areas for future plantings.
Milne stated that the time is now to save the planet.
“It’s tough hearing that if you don’t work at it there will not be a future for your planet,” she said. “It’s an initiative that everybody has to work at. All we have to do is be kind to our planet. This is the biggest challenge we will face in our lifetime. These 10-year studies cannot be continued. We have to act now and that’s what we’re doing.”
Lavey stated that she is confident that the club will continue its mission even after the seniors have passed.
“I’m really proud that people are willing to get their hands dirty and come out for this,” she said. “I’m super excited about the future of the club. We seniors will be gone, but the younger classes will carry on what we started, so that’s really rewarding. We’ll just pass the torch on to them.”
