Planting for the Future
COVID-19 has made it very difficult for some of our girls to achieve their service hours this year. So, when the opportunity arose to travel south to Bannister during the holidays and plant trees on a farm, students jumped at the opportunity.
The tree planting project was organised through the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, who are involved in many regeneration and conservation projects in the area. The tree planting days were held at the Wessels’ farm, Bannister Springs and facilitated by Bruce Ivers. Mr Ivers runs various school volunteer programs to plant trees each year. He provided planting equipment, and taught the girls all they needed to know.
Year 10 student, Eliza Treasure said, “Over the two days we were there we had to learn how to work in a team to plant the trees efficiently. Â There were a variety of trees and shrubs that will bring wildlife back to the bush, providing habitat and food. The effects of planting these trees will hopefully improve our environment from many years to come.”
Ashlee Button, also in Year 10 had this to say about the experience:
“We were all so lucky to get the opportunity to go to Bannister Springs for this tree planting service activity this holiday. It was a fun and rewarding way of earning service hours and was also a great learning experience, especially for the girls who haven’t had much experience on farms or at planting trees.
Although it was a lot of hard work, the group achieved so much, planting 10,000 trees across the two days! It was so rewarding to know how much we had contributed to the environment, and that in about five years time, the trees we planted will be fully grown.
It was great to see everyone come together as a team and motivate each other, especially when it was raining. The Wessels were so welcoming and hospitable to us all. Everybody had such a fantastic time and I know that we would all definitely do it again!”
- ConnectingLearning2Life, Featured
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.