Friendship News

Pittsburgh Montessori Readies for Arbor Day Celebration

date April 24 2008	Pittsburgh Montessori Readies for Arbor Day Celebration Students and staff members at Pittsburgh Montessori, 201 S. Graham St. (Friendship), are busier than ever this week as they put final touches on a series of special activities planned for Friday, April 25, in conjunction with the observance and celebration of Pennsylvania’s Arbor Day. Arbor Day was founded by Sterling Morton in 1872 as a special day for planting trees, and the most common date for the state observances is the last Friday in April, and the tradition began in schools nationwide in 1882. For more information about the history, view the Arbor Day Foundation website: http://www.arborday.org /. Since the Pittsburgh Montessori school relocated to the Friendship community, less than two years ago, the school community partnering with Friendship neighborhood groups have already positively impacted the school grounds by planting seven trees, adding a Peace garden and enhanced existing garden areas. Much of the funding for these activities was supported by Elm Street program, through Friendship Development Associates and volunteers through the Friendship Preservation Group. The Montessori school was invited to become an Arbor Day school by Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest. As an Arbor Day School, Pittsburgh Montessori will receive a Sreviceberry tree, $150.00 in books about trees for the school library in addition to support of the celebration day. The Montessori school invites members of the Pittsburgh community to come take a firsthand look at the school’s stewardship and appreciation for trees.  “Planting trees is an important part of child’s learning experience,” Pittsburgh Montessori parent and garden chair, Chris Gardner states, “but it goes beyond merely planting a tree, its learning about how the trees fits into their habitat, how they enrich our communities and, more importantly, it’s about the children becoming stewards—not just of the trees, but of their environment and learning that they can make an impact.” Pittsburgh Montessori will celebrate Arbor Day with the following activities: Tree Planting and Arbor Day presentation, 9:30 a.m. “Poet-Tree”, composting earth or bird-friendly poems to display Tree Identification Walk with Arborist Kevin Burns and Mark Remcheck Storytelling What Lives in a Tree? Yoga in the Peace Garden Bark Rubbings Sensorial Table with tree materials Tree mulching and care by new student tree stewards The school’s celebration is sponsored by Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest with the Grable Foundation. Friends sponsored the celebration at eight Pittsburgh public year a 100% increase from last year in which it sponsored four schools in the District. Additional sponsors include: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for providing books for all the Duquesne Light provides a tree for each school as well as volunteers. Pittsburgh Shade Commission provides volunteer support as well as paid staff person to support the coordinating each school. Other supporting organizations include: Pittsburgh Montessori Parent Teacher Organization, Pittsburgh Liberty Elementary School. Community members represented include: Mark Remcheck, Penn State Cooperative Indigo Raffel, Conservation Consultants, Kevin Burns, Pittsburgh Montessori parent Horchner, Friendship Preservation Group Vice President; Diana Ames, President Urban Forest. To schedule a visit or obtain information Minahan advises parents to contact the school 412-665-2010 or check the website- http://pittsburghmont.pghboe.net/ .
files