Earth Day Activities
John Klein
Treynor 5th Grade ClassSeventy-two Treynor 5th Grade students celebrated a combination of Arbor Day and Earth Day last Friday, April 22nd. They conducted a tree maintenance project on the High School athletic fields by placing a “donut” of new mulch around each tree. Previous students in past Arbor Day activities planted many of the trees. Friday was also Earth Day, the annual event to make people aware of their environment and doing something to improve our world.
The Fifth Grade students distributed 7,250 pounds of mulch. Each student had a 5-gallon bucket, which they could take home at the end of the project. Menards and Home Depot stores in Council Bluffs donated buckets. The Council Bluffs Recycling Center donated the mulch. The Treynor Optimist Club arranged the event with local club members being assisted in supervision by members of the Pottawattamie Master Gardeners and the Treynor High School Junior Optimist Club. Treynor Elementary Fifth Grade teachers are Andrea Saar, Morgan Lammert, and Kyle Rogers.
“The children had a great time spreading mulch. However, more importantly, they learned responsibility for their school, and for their environment. The project let them directly be involved in a conservation project that they can see and touch. That is a big thing for a young student, and hopefully the start of many conservation projects in their lives. It was especially meaningful where they were maintaining the trees planted by last year’s Fifth Grade class. These were great kids, very polite, and very enthusiastic about improving the trees at school.” said John Klein, Optimist Club President. “I am very proud of the work we accomplished and the chance to work with such energetic young people. Thanks also to the School for letting this educational opportunity occur outside of the classroom. We saved them money, taught a life lesson, and everyone had fun. It was a Win-Win for everyone.”
This mulching project was actually the second Arbor Day type project of the year for the Optimists Club. In early March, they joined volunteers from the Master Gardeners and Junior Optimists Club in a “Pruning Party” for all the trees on the High School campus in Treynor. In that project, tree form was inspected by the volunteers, and misshapen and low limbs were removed and hauled away. This made the trees more attractive, but also saved time and money for the school by reducing the cost of grounds maintenance.
Treynor School has had many building and athletic field additions in recent years. This has brought in new landscaping challenges to make the school look like an educational institution and not a paved shopping mall. Many trees have been added. Now these trees need care, shaping, and new mulch periodically to keep moisture in, plus weeds and lawn mowers out, of their living space.