HOWELL – Greenville Elementary School recently partnered with the Howell Township Shade Tree Commission and JCP&L’s FirstEnergy to plant new trees and environmental ideas in the elementary school curriculum.
Volunteers for both the Shade Tree Commission and FirstEnergy provided and planted trees on the school’s property, along with donating 100 seedlings for the school’s third graders to take home and practice their sustainability efforts.
Both organizations have worked with the Howell school district in the past, with the Shade Tree Commission working with Greenville School usually closer in time to Arbor Day. This collaboration was the first time FirstEnergy and Greenville worked together, though they have worked with other schools in the district before.
“We [love to] partner with the Shade Tree Commission, they truly brought a vision to life for us,” said Danielle Palazzolo, Greenville School principal. “They’ve really helped to create that vision out front. I knew that we needed to continue to grow our sustainability efforts and beautify the front of the building, and they were able to help make that happen.”
Both the trees and volunteers for this event were provided through both organizations and were not a expenditure of funds for the school district.
According to FirstEnergy’s senior communications representative Chris Hoenig, the association has planted over 3,000 trees across New Jersey in the past year.
“A lot of people think of us as having to cut trees, and trim trees, remove trees during storms, stuff like that, but environmental stewardship is a core value of ours. We do everything from tree plantings to recycling programs, odd item recycling programs, anything we can do to help sustainability, that’s part of that mission. Being able to come back in and plant trees is a great way for us to give back to the communities we serve,” he said.
Before planting, Greenville’s third graders came outside to the front of the school to see the trees, thank the volunteers and present sustainability projects and a poem they’ve made in class. Sustainability and the Earth are part of the third grade curriculum at Greenville school, and according to Palazzolo, this event helped peak their interest.
“I think one of the biggest pieces that’s really awesome is that the children get to participate. It was such a teachable opportunity for them because in their classroom they loved learning about the information, researching facts, being able to then bring those facts to life, create their posters, and then share their knowledge,” she said. “I think those real-life hands-on learning experiences are what solidifies learning for children, and that certainly was an opportunity and a direct reflection of that today.”
Dogwood and redbud trees are the specific types of trees planted, both species specially selected to grow and thrive in the area. According to Lisa Doud, chair of Howell Shade Tree Commission, each species of tree and plant are hand-selected after analysis of the area, wildlife and other plants.
The seedlings provided to the students were also dogwood.
“We are extremely thankful for the partnership with both the Shade Tree Commission and First Energy. Projects such as these don’t come easily without the hard work and the support of the community. We are most appreciative for their supporting Greenville School and bringing a vision to life for us,” Palazzolo said.
