Hickory Creek students dig in

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Hickory Creek Elementary Arbor Day art contest winners include, from left, Mayra Castorena, Shanda Ferguson, Daniel Patton, Hunter Hilton, Kristina Tigue and Michael Wells. (Will Stewart photo)

Hickory Creek Elementary celebrated Arbor Day in style last week, planting four trees on school grounds and distributing 700 tree seedlings to students and faculty.

On hand to lead the school-wide event were the city’s Urban Forestry Department, the Tennessee Urban Forester and representatives from the state’s forestry division. Members of those departments combined to conduct educational demonstrations on the importance of trees as well as how, and where, to plant them.

“Arbor Day is like my national holiday and it’s great to be here celebrating and teaching these kids,” said McMinnville Urban Forester Nick Kuhn. “My thanks goes out to the school for allowing us all of this time.”

Preceding Friday’s Arbor Day event was an Arbor Day art contest, the top winners of which were selected to help plant four magnolia trees around the school.

Winners of the kindergarten and first grade category, in which participants were asked to draw their favorite tree, were kindergartners Allie Golden, Cecilia Blanco and Jayrah Anderson, and first-graders Andrea Thackxton, Uriel Gomez and Greggory Campbell.

The second and third grade category had students draw their favorite flowering tree. Winners were second-graders Hunter Hilton, Susie Brown and Daniel Patton, and third-graders Michael Wells, Gabrielle Weddington and Rada Krijgman.

Entries from the school’s fourth- and fifth-graders depicted photosynthesis and the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle. This category’s winners were fourth-graders Danielle Miller, Joel Rowland and Tristan Young, and fifth-graders Shanda Ferguson, Mayra Castorena and Kristina Tigue.