New trees for Sisler High School

Shaughnessy Park

Shaughnessy Park just got a little greener.

On Aug. 6, 11 new trees were planted at Sisler High School (1360 Redwood Ave.). Organized by Trees Winnipeg, and funded by a Manitoba Hydro Forest Enhancement Grant, with support from the Winnipeg School Division and Green Drop Winnipeg, a total of 19 new trees were planted at the northwest Winnipeg school this year.

In the spring, while school was still in session, students helped plant the first eight trees. Mona Friesen, a science and biology teacher at Sisler, contacted Trees Winnipeg last summer to set the project in motion.

“During Grade 10 science class, we have an ecology unit, so during that unit we talk about global warming and try to get the kids to think of what they can realistically do,” Friesen said. “The idea of planting at Sisler came from those discussions.”

“It’s a great project,” said Christian Cassidy, executive director of Trees Winnipeg. “The school yard is a four-acre site and had barely any trees on it. It’s a little more of an oasis in a sea of industrial properties now with 19 trees grouped around the school.”

Since 2022, Trees Winnipeg has planted over 200 trees on inner-city school yards.

“This impacts not only the school, but the neighbourhood as a whole,” Cassidy said. “The neighbourhoods losing the most trees are the older communities, that are elm heavy. In a lot of central communities, school yards do a lot of heavy lifting. They’re not only used by students at the school, but often the school playground and sports field are the neighbourhood playground and sports fields. There’s not a choice of a regional park a few blocks away.”

New trees planted by Trees Winnipeg in school yards are typically a mix of local species, such as plant lindens, hackberries, and Manitoba maples, Cassidy explained.

“It’s a fairly limited palette of trees, because schools don’t want fruit-bearing trees to make a mess or attract wasps,” he said. “We put in the odd oak. Mostly common local species. We do try to mix them up, we don’t want to get into that monoculture that caused the problem with elms in the first place.”

Whenever possible, students are involved in the planting process when Trees Winnipeg works with schools to regreen their yards.

“The kids loved the planting,” Friesen said. “The kids even named the trees. It’s going to be wonderful for teaching. It hits so many outcomes. Some of the trees are native species. It will be cool for them to see new things like that. I’ve brought kids outside, but we don’t have much shade, so this will be a great addition.”

“Planting trees with schoolchildren is great,” Cassidy said. “For one, it’s a very fun activity. Secondly, kids take a bit of ownership of that tree in the yard. Most of our plantings are at elementary schools. (Sisler) is our first high school. It’s neat, for some of the Sisler students will be able to drive by the school in 20 years and see something they’ve done, and how those trees have grown.”