The AFS school and community planted 350 trees and shrubs along the Jenkintown Creek. On Friday, October 17, over 200 students helped prepare the planting area by removing debris and trash, organizing plants along the stream, and pounding in fence posts to keep deer from feasting on the newly planted buffer. They also planted a number of trees and shrubs.
“These will be great for our tree identification studies and water testing,” said AFS Science teacher Jim Pierson. Along with tree identification, the trees were given names including “Rose, and Mr. Tree,” by 3rd graders.
The program featured a welcome from Rosanne Mistretta, Lower School Science Teacher, AFS and Julie Slavet, Executive Director, TTF and comments from Commissioner Lawrence F. Jones, Jr. Ward 3, Abington Township; State Representative Madeleine Dean, 153rd Legislative District, Montgomery County; Emma Melvin, Plant One Million Regional Project Manager, TreeVitalize, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS); Alicia LaRoche, Senior Specialist, Green Products, Washington Gas Energy Services, Carbon Fund Partner; and Patrick Starr, Executive Vice President, Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
Children had fun making buttons, playing with meal worms, and learning about their community and water through the interactive, engaging displays presented by TTF, Sustainable Choices, PHS Meadowbrook Farm, and Briar Bush Nature Center. Our work was fueled by bagels donated by Fill A Bagel & Bread. In addition, we were joined by a team from KIND Snacks, who brought along bars to share and planted a lot of trees!
