Politics & Government

Parks Department Hosts Arbor Day Fête

Students at Cedar Grove Elementary School participated in an Arbor Day celebration hosted by Montgomery Parks on Tuesday.

The following information was submitted by Melissa Chotiner, spokeswoman Montgomery Parks: 

Students at Cedar Grove Elementary in Germantown got their chance to “speak for the trees,” at a special Arbor Day celebration hosted by Montgomery Parks. The April 24 event for students in grades 3 – 5 featured a variety of hands-on activities, culminating in a sky-high-bucket truck trip to the canopy of a mature tree accompanied by members of the Montgomery Parks Tree Crew.

The school was selected because of fifth grader Rachel Ma’s winning entry into Montgomery Parks Arbor Day Poster Contest. Rachel's poster will be displayed at park facilities around the county.

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Other activities scheduled for the day included:

  • A live composting demonstration using the Park’s “secret” recipe
  • Planting three trees (from the Park’s Nursery, Pope Farm) on school grounds
  • A tree walk to learn how to identify different types of trees
  • Learning about the anatomy of a tree including studying its growth rings and how it gets food and water from any location
  • Photos with the Park’s mascot Woody the Tree

The school received the Arbor Day Foundation Tree City Award Flag by Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In addition, Montgomery Parks will donate a collection of tree-themed books to the school’s library.

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Each student will receive his own tree seedling to take home. 

“Montgomery Parks has an extensive tree care program and one of the highlights is getting out into the community to share our knowledge with students and help them fall in love with trees as we have,” said Department of Parks Senior Urban Forester, Holly Thomas.

For more on the Montgomery Parks visit www.MontgomeryParks.org


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