Riverbend Elementary celebrates Arbor Day
Yuba City helps school plant 27 new trees
“Higher, higher, higher,” chanted the third-grade students of Riverbend Elementary School as they watched the bucket of a white aerial truck tow a Yuba City park maintenance worker several stories into the air. This was to conclude the highly anticipated “helicopter drop” during the school’s Arbor Day event on Friday.
The helicopter drop demonstrates how winged seeds from trees like the silver maple get spread and carried by the wind. Because these seeds can be hard to see from far away, students were taught how to fold larger replicas out of paper. Upon their drop, a ribbon of white dancing copters filled the sky as they spun their way down to be caught by eager hands.
This presentation was made possible by Yuba City’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Tree City USA Arbor
Day Foundation. Every year, the city picks one school or community group to do an Arbor Day presentation.
This was Riverbend Elementary’s first year to be selected and principal Jevan Bains feels it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We were missing so many trees due to the drought,” explained Bains. “So I reached out and partnered with the city for assistance. It helped us out a lot because trees are expensive.”
Ernesto Hernandez, Yuba City Parks and Recreation supervisor, has several children enrolled at Riverbend and found it to be the perfect collaborative opportunity.
“My daughter brought a flier home a few weeks before about the school asking for trees,” said Hernandez. “And we have a Cal Fire grant that we’re trying to use to get trees into schools. So two and two, it made sense.”
Riverbend Elementary, a once sunscorched lot, ended up taking 27 saplings onto its property free of charge. These new additions line the school’s track field, the middle school black top, the front of the school, and the quad.
“It’s actually pretty hard to find a place to put that many trees,” said Hernandez. “I’m thankful to Mr. Bains that we were able to work together on this.”
Robert Condrey,
Yuba City Parks and Recreation maintenance supervisor, explained that the Cal Fire grant has given them the initiative to plant 500 trees in the next three years. This has been difficult to do during ongoing droughts, but so far 56 trees have been planted this year with nearly half of those being done at Riverbend.
The students also enjoyed learning how to count the rings of a felled tree to discover its age, and getting introduced to other forestry equipment such as a woodchipper, stump grinder, and skid steer.
“It’s a very important thing for me to do,” said Hernandez. “If we can get one kid to really focus on the trees, I think we win.”
Hernandez and his team excited the students with a lively demonstration that imparted critical environmental knowledge and highlighted the impact trees have on maintaining the planet’s overall quality of life.
“It helps spark their interest in conservation,” said Bains. “And gives them an appreciation for not only the beauty of trees but also their importance.