On Friday, December 5, my students celebrated Arbor Day with the planting of a pink dogwood tree near our school sign. The Lady Slipper Garden Club presented OES with a tree in recognition of our recycling efforts.
In September, one of the garden club members, retired teacher Sandy Huggins, came to visit, and she read a book about recycling.
Afterwards, Mrs. Huggins challenged my first graders to collect 100 items that could be recycled. She promised to donate a tree to our school if we succeeded. Little did she know how motivated my sweeties are! Within one week, we had collected 2000 recyclable items! Wow! Mrs. Huggins was delighted, and we decided to plant the tree in a small ceremony on Arbor Day. By the way, Arbor Day in South Carolina is celebrated the first Friday in December, and it marks the beginning of our state's planting season.
My students presented a poster and wore "Arbor Day Hats" as we joined the garden club members in front of our school early Friday morning.
Lake Wagner and Grant McAbee read an Arbor Day poem as each student shoveled some soil around the base of the tree.
What a great way to teach our children about the importance of natural resources!
