Trees take root at Greenway

Students and staff at Greenway School undertook a massive green space improvement project this month with the planting of 50 trees on school grounds.

The school acquired a grant from Tree Canada and also partnered with sponsor Northbridge Insurance to make the project a reality.

On Oct. 10, staff from Ron Paul Garden Centre came to Greenway to teach students about how to properly plant and care for the trees. That information will be important as students and classrooms are adopting trees to research and nurture over the course of the school year.

“Our goal is to clean the air, bring nature back to the playground, and feed the wildlife,” said Cheryl McCallum, a Special Education Resource Teacher at the school. “All of the trees planted are part of the edible tree family that will produce fruit that is consumable for people and wildlife.”

One of the trees was donated by Gordon Bell High School as part of its Tree of Hope program. The project was made possible with a $500 grant from the Winnipeg Police Association’s Cool 2Be Kind program.

Gordon Bell is giving a tree to each of its feeder schools. With the assistance of Winnipeg Police Service School Resource officers—such as Constable Mike Klassen and Patrol Sergeant Shaunna Neufeld—Gordon Bell students will be writing messages of hope for their younger counterparts at the elementary schools.

“If a student is having a bad day, we will write them a kind note or a message of hope,” said Gordon Bell teacher Faridah Shams. “The SROs will bring the student out to the tree to see all of their messages, so they know someone out there cares about them. It’s just a way of building community and hope in the West End.”

Despite it being a chillier-than-normal October day, students and staff were excited to help out with the grounds improvement project.

“It will be fabulous to see this urban forest take shape here at Greenway for years to come,” said Principal Stormie Duchnycz.