New trees take root at Omemee school

Scott Young Public School in Omemee has 17 new trees in its yard, thanks to a helpful grant from Trees Canada. 

Plant Kawartha – a program of the Kawartha Community Foundation – is led by Richard and Sandi Gauder of Lindsay. The Gauders were part of a climate committee and were looking to get some carbon credits. Another committee member suggested buying some trees to plant. After planting their first tree, “it (felt) magical. There was something there where we said, ‘we got to keep this going,’” Richard said. “We decided to do some plantings in some environmentally sensitive places where people could visit,” Richard said. 

They then moved onto larger plantings. Plant Kawartha does two plantings a year, and this year’s recipients are Scott Young Public School and the Lindsay Agricultural Society. 

Carissa Ferguson, operations and engagement coordinator at Kawartha Community Foundation, led the grant process. “The climate’s only getting hotter, and (there’s a) need for planting trees. Not just for shade, but for wildlife, for habitats, for the climate. I think it’s an essential part of any playground.” 

Her son goes to Scott Young so she’s familiar with the school yard, and sits on the parent council, making the school an obvious choice to receive the trees. “It made writing the grant much easier, and ultimately we were successful with Tree Canada and getting $10,000 for trees, installation and maintenance,” Ferguson said.

There was also a focus on local, with Used Green Side Up, an environmental landscape company, being used to plant the trees.

Sandi said that kids understand the need for trees and have an appreciation for them getting planted. They did a presentation to 100 Kids Who Care a couple of years ago, and “when we talked about how hot it gets on the playground in the summer and asked if anybody would like shade to sit under, every kid in the room put their hand up.” 

The trees will be used as a lesson in classrooms to show students the importance of land through Indigenous teachings. Students will also be ‘water wishing,’ where they will write their wishes on biodegradable paper, put it in water, and use that water on the trees. 

For more information on Plant Kawartha visit plantkawartha.ca.