The Perkerson Elementary School Arboretum Project is well under way. Perkerson Elementary School has partnered with Kennesaw State University and Trees Atlanta to create an arboretum. What’s an arboretum you ask? An arboretum is a living tree museum. It will be a living legacy.
The project began with the students joining Lauren Sandoval, the Education Coordinator at Trees Atlanta to do a walking inventory of the tree already on campus. They even counted the rings of a tree to see which was older, the school or the tree. Next, the students were asked to design where they thought that the trees should be planted to enhance the school campus. Their plans were called Artscapes. They were beautiful and quite creative.
The first 12 Artscape with Perkerson 4th and 5th graders are complete. What a great time we had learning about the urban forest right on the Perkerson campus, counting tree rings and doing some great Arboretum Art! Check out some of the photos.
We planted the 4 legacy trees on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 from 10am -11:45am and again from 12:30pm-2:15pm. The students have selected the following trees: the Black Gum, the Gingko, and the Shumard Oak.
We are hoping to plant even more trees in the fall.
Oh, did I mention that we are getting sheep? Yes, I said sheep as in “baah, baah! The organizer of The Trees Atlanta Sheep program might be able to get the sheep to Perkerson Elementary in August. The sheep would be there for about 2-4 days and eat the invasive plants and weeds in the back area of the campus. The sheep are fenced in and the Sheppard will check on them daily. We would have an after school “Meet the Sheep” event for the students and community for a few hours. We will keep you posted.
Perkerson Elementary School is really branching out. Come join us for the Arboretum planting and then feel free to come by and see how our trees are growing. We would love to see you.
written by Karen Ross, Teacher at Perkerson Elementary School
