A tree grows at NCES

NORTH CANAAN — Students of North Canaan Elementary School (NCES) celebrated Arbor Day on Friday, May 20, with the planting of a young pink dogwood tree.

In attendance were the school’s kindergarten through fifth grades and town selectmen Doug Humes, Charlie Perotti and Susan Clayton.

Naturalists Tom Zetterstrom and Christian Allyn helped lead the event.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, fifth-graders Riley Andrews, Anthony Gallagher, Ella Hewins, Odin Knutson, Lily Najdek and Ada Yeung read original poetry that commemorated trees and the earth.

“My Tree Wanted to Be a Ballerina,” was the title of one poem.

Next, kindergarten and first-grade students, under the direction of Mary Davidson, sang “Habitat,” a song composed by Bill Oliver.

“Have to have a habitat, to carry on,” the children sang while adding creative hand gestures. The lyrics continued along an animated melody, “People are different from foxes and rabbits/ affect the world with their bad habits.”

The scientific name for the flowering pink dogwood, Tom Zetterstrom explained, is Cornus florida. The name comes, not from the state, but from the Latin word “floridus,” which means “flowering.”

In the fall, the dogwood tree’s leaves will turn crimson.

The tree was planted through the support of the Canaan Foundation.

Christian Allyn, an NCES alum who has recently completed his third year at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, encouraged the students to explore the rewards of academic achievement and communal involvement.

“One thing I love about living in North Canaan is you belong to a great community,” he said. He went on to recall his own memories of Arbor Day at the elementary school.

Then he led the kids in stretching out their arms and wiggling their fingers further and further until their metaphoric roots were firmly in place and their lives in full blossom.

“You guys are like this dogwood. You’re young,” he said. But even when they are all grown up, he continued, their roots — and their connections to North Canaan —would still need to be fed.

At college, Allyn was able to conduct an independent study in which he created the “Teacher’s Guide to the NCES Arboretum.”

His hope is that teachers will be able to integrate the guide into the school curriculum to introduce students to tree species and their roles in the environment. 

Afterward, several students put the final touches on the tree planting with mulch. Lastly, the selectmen gave it water.