30 Years of Planting Trees in Perry County
As program administrator for the Perry Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) I spent nearly 30 years promoting conservation and instilling the value of our natural resources to students throughout Perry County.
Each year the Perry SWCD promoted and conducted an art poster contest where we identified a common theme and encouraged students grades K through 12 to participate in the art poster contest. It was a fantastic way to make contact with every student throughout Perry County each and every year.
As a living token for students who participated we bought and provided a white pine seedling for all students to take home and plant. It was a unique plan, and we enlisted the help of volunteers every year to individually package white pine seedlings in little sandwich bags with some wet sawdust, to send home with the students. I’m sure some students threw them away and maybe some trees never even got home, but I also know that there are many trees that got planted by students at home every year as a result of that program.
I hope those students will always be able to reflect and look back at that experience when they return home or visit the places they planted those trees so many years ago. When you develop and conduct a program like that you never really see the impact that you may have had until years later. It warms my heart when someone who is now a young adult and was a past student that grew up in Perry County mentions how much that program meant to them at the time, and how they continue to value the trees they planted as a child. Thanks for sharing your story with me, Akishia – you made my day!
