Celebrating Arbor Day at Clyde Brown Elementary

Local tree companies, Harrison McPhee, Inc. (HMI) and ArborOne, Inc. teamed up to celebrate Arbor Day with 3rd grade students at Clyde Brown Elementary School in Millis.
Students participated in interactive learning stations that included climbing demonstrations, tree biology, landscape design, planting techniques, and gypsy moth identification. “We are passionate about what we do, and we want to instill that love of the outdoors in our communities’ youth. Celebrating Arbor Day with them is one way to demonstrate how that love translated into a rewarding career path for each of our team members”, said Scott McPhee, MCA of Harrison McPhee, Inc..
“I loved how fast the arborist could climb into the tree without even touching a branch. He wrapped his foot around the rope and just zipped up the tree like he was in the circus!” said one excited student who had never seen the art of foot locking - an original technique for climbers. Students then had the chance to try their hand at holding their weight on the rope, to see just how challenging it is to be an Industrial Athlete.
If climbing or biology didn’t appeal to someone, there’s a good chance that the landscape design challenge did. Karen Kerr, the HMI landscape designer, presented a crash course in how she chooses and arranges plants on a property. Each student was given a sketch of the HMI building and was challenged to come up with a design. HMI is going to choose a winner, who will work with Karen to finalize the HMI landscape. And since the building is right across from The Black Cow on Main Street, the winner just might be treated to an ice cream, too!
To accommodate the immersion classes, one learning station was presented entirely in Spanish, and focused on specialized safety gear for arborists. The students walked away with a whole new list of vocabulary words that could serve as the basis for an upcoming ecology test!
Activities concluded with a brief talk about the history of Arbor Day, white pine saplings to plant with their families, and their own Arbor Day t-shirt.
“We are thrilled that these two local companies took the time to share the day with us. The students learned so much about the ways they can contribute to the growing needs of our planet.” stated Mrs. Mellin, 3rd grade teacher and avid supporter of environmental awareness. “We would love to make this visit part of our annual curriculum.”
Harrison McPhee, Inc. is located at 1420 Main Street in Millis, and ArborOne operates out of 42 Main Street in Douglas. Both are full service tree care companies and active members of the Massachusetts Arborists Association (MAA), a professional trade organization that serves the commercial arboriculture industry. Consumers can learn more about the importance of proper tree care at MassArbor.org, HarrisonMcPhee.com, and ArborOneTree.com.