Southeast Kelloggsville fourth-graders are planting roots in the community –- roots that will grow into big blue spruce trees.
Thanks to a donation of saplings from retired teacher Gordy Reyburn, each student received their own tree to plant in their yard or school yard. Students marked Arbor Day by gathering at Ideal Park in Wyoming for a quick agriculture lesson and instructions on planting from Reyburn, who taught agriculture at Sparta High School and fourth grade at Palmer Elementary, in Grand Rapids Public Schools.
“I taught school for 30 years and people were always giving me stuff, so I thought I would give these away,” said Reyburn, who got the trees from a local nursery.
Reyburn’s daughter, Pam Jurick, is on the City of Wyoming Tree Commission with Jim Ward, whose wife, Jane Ward, is on the Kelloggsville Board of Education.
Jim Ward, who attended the event, said the mission of the Tree Commission is to increase the canopy of trees and in the city of Wyoming. The commission also restored trees in Ideal Park, which lost many of them during a 2014 tornado.
The event also tied into the fourth-grade curriculum, said teacher Lynnea Roon. Students study tree rings, photosynthesis, parts of plants, seeds and seed travel.
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