LEBANON, Va. – Everyone wanted the chance to turn the first shovel of dirt.
But this groundbreaking at Lebanon Elementary School was not for a building, it was for a tree – a tiny dogwood to replace one recently lost.
“I want it to be as big as the flagpole,” said Taytum Quesenberry, 9, a third-grader who participated in Wednesday’s tree-planting. “I think three years will do it.”
The third-graders here – among 689 pupils at nine schools in Russell and Wise counties and the city of Norton – participated this spring in Project Plant It!, a program sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and Dominion, the company building a power plant and planning wind farms in the region.
“The world would be a bad place if you didn’t have any trees, because you wouldn’t be able to breathe,” said Channler Boothe, 9.
Phillip Henley, principal of the school, said the project is good for the ecosystem, the school and the kids, as well as good public relations for Dominion, which is building a coal-fired power plant in St. Paul, Va.
“It’s good to let them do a little hands-on project and feel like they’re making a contribution to our school climate and our school campus,” Henley said. “It [the tree] survived the kids; it should survive anything.”
The third-graders here and at the other schools also received their own little trees to take home and plant. Some of the trees will survive, others won’t, but along with their trees the kids took home lessons about their place in the world.
“Planting trees helps the environment,” said Rylee Reynolds, 9.
“You should recycle paper instead of cutting it down,” said Nicole Boothe, 9.
James Beazley, of Dominion, said the project is an effort to contribute to communities in its service area.
“Kids are able to plant trees with their parents and watch the tree grow and reflect back,” Beazley said. “I can remember planting several trees with my father. ... It’s a good memory.”
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement