St Johns Pre-Prep youngster initiates tree-planting project
HOUGHTON – St John's Pre-Preparatory donated and planted 10 trees at The Wilds in Houghton.
The Grade 1s at St John’s Pre-Preparatory planted 10 new fever trees at The Wilds in Houghton on 8 September.
The project was initiated by youngsters Ryan MacKay who learned about the value of trees and asked his father how he could raise money to buy more, to replace the diseased trees at St Johns Pre-Preparatory.
Headmistress at the school Jane Lane said, “His father encouraged him but said they had to plant the trees somewhere where others would also benefit from them. They approached the Pre-Prep with their idea and it was decided that The Wilds would be the perfect place.
“Ryan challenged the other boys to donate money for trees and St John’s were able to plant 10 fever trees in The Wilds.”
With the help of City Parks, the eager learners went to The Wilds to identify where they should plant trees, they dug holes and half-planted the trees.
All the boys from the pre-preparatory went across to The Wilds and had a small ceremony to thank Ryan and the City Parks team. Then every youngster added a handful of soil and a bucket full of water to the trees.
Lane concluded, “This will become an ongoing venture at St John’s Pre-Preparatory as we look after these trees, cover them in winter against frost and keep them in fertilizer. We will make this an annual outing to document the growth of the trees.”
