Celebrating National Tree Day

Crestview Public School students and staff along with community partner Hill’s Greenhouses will be celebrating National Tree Day on Wednesday, September 21. The students in the Grade 4/5 class have taken the celebration of National Tree Day to another level – they sent a letter and white spruce seedling to Prime Minister Trudeau to tell him about the eco-friendly school and the importance of trees. View the letter HERE.

“National Tree Day is a very important day to observe for our school as we are a designated Gold Ontario Eco School,” says Jo-Anne Giertuga, Principal of Crestview Public School. “Our students felt that the Prime Minister should know about the importance of National Tree Day to our country and to our school. The letter urges him to plant the seedling to recognize this very important day.”

According to the National Tree Day website, “National Tree Day will serve as a celebration for all Canadians to appreciate the great benefits that trees provide us – clean air, wildlife habitat, reducing energy demand and connecting with nature.”

On National Tree Day, Kevin Van Duyn, owner and operator of Hill’s Greenhouses Ltd. will be educating students about the importance of trees to our planet. In addition, Mr. Van Duyn will be showing how to care for the white spruce seedlings that each student and staff member received compliments of Hill’s Greenhouses.

Crestview Public School was received an Ontario EcoSchools Gold designation in June of 2012. Ontario EcoSchools certification provides a rigorous province-wide set of criteria to assess achievement of environmentally-responsible actions and environmental learning. There are three levels of Ontario EcoSchools certification: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

To achieve Ontario EcoSchools Gold status, schools are required to achieve a minimum of 75% of the possible points in ALL of the six parts of the following categories of certification:

  • Teamwork and Leadership
  • Energy Conservation
  • Waste Minimization
  • School Ground Greening
  • Curriculum
  • Environmental Stewardship