Do You Remember? Out Like A Lion, In Like A Lamb…Or April Showers Brings May Flowers
Like many of us who remember these aphorisms from our past educational experiences, so it was last Friday for many third grade children of our public and parochial schools in Lakewood.
Arbor Day of April 28th gave our children a learning experience of what the Arbor Day "Growing Zones" are, and why it is typically in April, here in Ohio. I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of third graders at Roosevelt Elementary who enthusiastically appreciated the chance to take a sapling and some flower seeds home with them to plant and grow.
How did it begin? With my curiosity about the origin of Arbor Day activities in America, and especially in Lakewood, "The City Of Trees." I learned last year from the Arbor Foundation of Lincoln, Nebraska that the idea of planting trees in the original Nebraska Territory came to the mind of J. Sterling Morton on April 10, 1872.
On subsequent years, J. Sterling and his friends planted over one million trees in Nebraska and the activity has continued to today, even expanding into South America, including the Rain Forests of Brazil. I have been procuring the little trees from the Arbor Foundation for the past two years now for our Lakewood children to grow.
So, this past Friday, our children learned the importance of Arbor Day and with a smile in my mind, I saw the excitement of the children arriving home with their little Dogwood Tree sapling and a packet of flower seeds yelling, "Hey Mom, (or Dad) where can I plant my tree?" Best wishes and thoughts on your child's experience.
A special thank you to teachers: Cindy Vullo, Megan Baslack, and Melissa Hare for the opportunity to speak to their classes, and Glen Palmer of Lakewood Hardware who donated potting soil and pots to give the little trees a temporary home until they get replanted somewhere in the City of Trees.