By Vanessa Overholser - Staff Writer
McBrayer Elementary School’s 100 fifth grade students assembled at its “outdoor classroom” to witness Wal-Mart employees plant a new tree.
Wal-Mart employees David Lewis, Byron Mabry, Christy Holbrook, Karla Utterback, Christi Kesterson, Gretchen Dehart, Kelli Keller and Francis served as witnesses of the event.
“We lost six trees in a storm we had a couple of months ago,” said Assistant Principal Christi Tyndall. “They were the trees our students used to collect pine cones.”
Tyndall said the school just received a $35,000 HP (Hewlett Packard) Technology Grant. These funds gave students laptops and cameras as tools to do data analysis. She said teachers and students are able to use the outdoor classroom to assist in areas of science and math.
In celebrate Earth Day, Wal-Mart donated a Colorado blue spruce tree to replace one of the trees lost in a windstorm in February. The tree is about 3 feet tall now and will grow to about 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide in 20 years, said Wal-Mart Co-Manager David Lewis.
After Lewis broke ground and dug a hole for the tree, students Justin Graham and Karissa Henderson were chosen to help fill dirt in the hole around the tree.
“We are planting for a next generation,” Lewis said.
“This allows Wal-Mart to be a permanent fixture at McBrayer’s outdoor classroom which allows students to know Wal-Mart is a leading example for a better environment and it encourages students to give back to the community,” said Wal-Mart Communication Involvement Coordinator Kelli Keller.
“It was nice for them (Wal-Mart employees) to come and celebrate Earth Day with the students,” Tyndall said. “Thank goodness for Earth Day because we got a new tree.”
