DOVER — Students, faculty and the community gathered at Dover Elementary School on Friday to celebrate Columbus, Shady, Oakie Dokie, Treasure Tree and Shadow. Those are the unique names of five new trees on the campus, as voted on by students in kindergarten through the fourth grade. The school received a grant from the Arkansas Forestry Commission for the trees. School counselor Bonita Bates said the school, which had been working on the grant since May, learned in August that it would be awarded. She said Forestry Commission employee Chuck Primeaux was instrumental in helping Dover apply for and win the grant. He and his co-workers were on hand Friday to help students shovel dirt onto the oak saplings.
“He told us we had to apply for this grant,” Bates said, “and we were so excited to receive it. The Forestry Commission guys brought the trees Friday morning, and the students lined up to actually help shovel the dirt.” She pointed out that one of the most difficult tasks was finding enough small shovels for the students to use, since gardening tools are out of season in most stores.
The entire week before the trees were planted, students focused their lessons on trees. They wrote poems
and essays about trees, learned about tree habitats and more.
Students in second-grade classes focused on learning about the wildlife systems that trees support.
Second-grader Jaycie Bull said she was most excited about the trees because of the shade.
“They are growing,” she said. “They will have shade, and squirrels live in trees.” Her classmate Lainey Kirshberger agreed.
“Trees are home to many animals like birds and snakes,” she said.
The shade of the trees was emphasized during lessons, Bates said, and the school used the term “STOP,” to stand for Shade Trees on Playgrounds.
Before the trees were planted, students wereaddressed by state Rep. Robert Dale, R-Dover, whose grandchildren attend Dover Elementar y. He told students about the environmentalbenefits of trees and explained how excited he was to see the trees grow.
“Someday, after you have studied hard and graduate high school, you will be able to come back and see the trees you planted,” he said. “I want each one of you to nurture and protect these trees.”
Individual classes will be responsible for the watering and upkeep of their trees throughout the school year.
The ceremony also honored former Dover Elementary teacher Mona Hiemer with a memorial bench, which wasplaced near the new trees.
“ The bench will honor a teacher very dedicated to teaching boys and girls in this community,” Bates said. “She taught at Dover for 28 years.”
Staff writer Caroline Zilk canbe reached at (501) 244-4326 or czilk@arkansasonline.com.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 57 on 10/27/2011