Kildonan-East students join Team Trees

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This article was published 03/01/2020 (2143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of students from Kildonan-East Collegiate celebrated the holidays and kicked off the New Year by contributing to a global tree planting initiative.

Leading up to the holiday break, students in KEC’s One World: Students for Change group had raised nearly $400 for Team Trees. The collaborative fundraiser was launched by YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast, and aims to raise $20 million for the Arbour Foundation to plant 20 million trees.

Teachers Larein Vaughan and Daria Krause came across the idea, which the students in the group ran with wholeheartedly.

“These students understand how important it is to not only be thinking about the environment, but actually doing something about it to help foster a healthier, greener space,” Vaughan said. “By raising their voices about these issues — issues that are close to my heart as well — they can create awareness, invoke change, promote kindness, and ultimately improve the lives of others.”

“I’m happy to be a part of this, happy I got involved,” said Sumit Saini, a Grade 12 student who took part in the project. “It feels great to have helped plant trees.”

To raise funds, students wanted to do something creative that didn’t also contribute any waste to the environment. They decided to make “tree tags”, which they made themselves through a process of trial and error from recycled paper in the school.

“The tags are neat because they didn’t cost anything to make, used recycled material,” Krause said, adding that the tags were decorated using stamps made from potatoes she grew in her garden in the summer. “The tags turned out really neat.”

“The first few weeks we were confused about how to actually recycle paper,” Saini explained with a laugh. “At first, it turned out pretty thick and it wasn’t quite what we wanted. A lot of people got involved, and a few weeks ago we came up with an idea that worked.”

“They were enthusiastic, energized, excited and committed to seeing this plan through,” Vaughan added. “I think this journey of selling trees is really just the beginning of more positive environmental action projects to come in the future for these activists, for our school, and even for our community.”

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While Saini and the other students were excited to be a part of an international movement, there was some concern regarding how the trees will fare once they are planted.

“I’m concerned that once the trees are actually planted that they are taken care of,” said Saini.

The group hopes to build on the momentum the kids created and develop another project for the new year.

“We don’t know what that will be yet,” Krause said. “Our mandate is to create and get involved in initiatives that battle climate change.”

Visit teamtrees.org for more information on the Team Trees project.

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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