by Adam Gault
Graduating students at Essex Public School braved the blustery winds and the torrential downpour last Friday afternoon to plant a tree in honour of Earth Day.
The tree also serves as a parting gift to the school’s Senior Kindergarten class.
In addition to the event at EPS, additional ceremonies were held at the other five additional elementary schools within the Town of Essex, including Holy Name Catholic Elementary School, Colchester North Public School, Harrow Public School, St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School, and École Élémentaire Catholique Sainte-Ursule.
Since 2014, all six Essex-based elementary schools have taken part in the event, which grew from a pilot project the Essex Communities in Bloom Committee initiated. With the planting of the tree by the senior class, it is hoped the kindergarteners will adopt the tree as their own. As they care for it, the idea is that they will learn the importance of environmental legacy as they continue on their elementary school journey.
“The grade eights and sevens, you worked hard to get here,” Essex Communities in Bloom Committee member, Mary Ellen Morton, said during the planting ceremony. “For the kindergartners, it’s your job to take of the tree, treat the soil it lives on, the air it breathes as you would your own body. In no time, you will see this tree right here when the kindergartners are in grade eight.”
The students then broke the ground in preparation of the planting, as Town of Essex employees helped in making sure the hole was dug to the correct depth for the fifth year of this legacy event.
With each passing year, more students learn the important role that trees play in the maintenance of the natural environment and continue to grow the Town’s green spaces for generations to come.