Cedarwood School in Glenferness celebrated Arbor Day this year by planting a new tree on their campus, one of their many attempts to make their pupils aware of the need to take care of the environment.
On 3 May, Cedarwood’s preparatory phase gathered in their school garden to witness an indigenous species of olive tree being planted. Leading the ceremony was the headmaster of the preparatory school, Dave Bester, as well as Margeaux Engelbrecht who is head of the school’s Green Committee.
“With the planting of this tree, [Cedarwood School] commits to taking care of all plants,” Engelbrecht said during her speech to the about 150 pupils from Grades 1 to 6 who witnessed the dedication.
Commenting on the inspiration for the tree-planting, Bester explained that he had been inspired with the idea after visiting schools during a recent trip to Australia.
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“We chose to plant an olive tree because it represents peace and quite,” Bester added. “Peace is one of the living values that we hope to teach our children to practice in their own lives.”
The olive tree was kindly donated by the Grow Wild nursery, which is situated just across the street from the Cedarwood campus. The nursery specialises in plant life that is indigenous to South Africa.
Cedarwood’s dedication to environmental causes is not limited to just Arbor Day. The school has also launched a Green Committee that foundation phase pupils are encouraged to get involved in. One of this committee’s first projects will be the curation of vegetable boxes by pupils.
“Our veggie boxes were recently built, and soon we will be adding the potting soil and begin to grow our own vegetables.
“There are currently three [of them] at the school, one for the Grade 1 class, one for the Grade 2 class and one for the Grade 3 class,” Engelbrecht concluded.
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