“Planting the trees requires effort,” said Tadek Wieczorek, age 13, of the Champions team, while he looked for something to use to hammer in a tube. 

On Nov. 14, the students of the Going Green Club planted persimmon trees in the back of Rachel Carson middle school in very cold temperatures.

The going Green Club is a club that is focused on helping the community. Mr. Treakle, the librarian, is the staff member in charge of this club.

Before planting trees the Going Green club was learning about how to not pollute watersheds.

“We have been learning about how to keep trash from going into watersheds and we have also been learning about watersheds in science,” said Tadek.

The persimmon tree is found in Asia and North America. The North American version is more suitable for colder temperatures and is taller when fully grown. The fruit that comes from the tree is very rich tasting. The fruit is quite healthy containing high amounts of vitamin C and calcium. Persimmon translates to “Fruit of the Gods.” This fruit is not too common in stores because they are soft which makes shipping many of them difficult.

On the day of the planting, students were all gathered in the library while Mr. Treakle explained what they were going to do. All the students left their backpacks in the library. They were all also in warm clothes because it was very chilly outside. When the students got outside a small group of them left with buckets to get water for the trees to stay in. Many students were really eager to get started. They were all chatting with there friends.

The students in the club started to get explained how to plant the trees. They were informed that wooden supporter marked where the trees had to be planted and that they had to hammer in a plastic tube to protect the tree from animals while it grew. The adult demonstrated how to plant the trees and told the students what part of the tree goes underground and what part can’t go underground.

After the explanation, the students instantly got into groups of two and three to start planting their own trees. Some students picked their trees based off if they had left or not and other factors. Then they scattered and looked for a stake where they could plant their trees.

When they started to dig holes for the trees they found an obstacle in there way in the form of large rocks in the dirt. Rocks made it hard to dig through the ground with shovels. Some students picked their trees based off if they had a leaf or not and other factors. When the students were done digging and planting their trees they got a wooden plank and a hammer so they could easily hammer in the tube. One student would hold the plank over the tube and another would hammer the plank. They did this so it would become easier to hammer the tubes into the ground.   

Students said the tree planting was fun and educational.