MORGANTOWN — A tree grows in Brookhaven.
Well, actually several trees are growing on the grounds of Brookhaven Elementary School these days.
Fifth-graders at the red-brick school off Brookhaven Road planted them for National Arbor Day last month.
The Rising Sun Redbuds were sunk in the soil with the help of Southern States of Morgantown, the school’s Partner in Education.
Brookhaven Elementary also has its own Green Team Initiative, which has its roots in the West Virginia Botanic Garden, Dominion Energy and the National Arbor Day Foundation.
A host of parent volunteers, plus other teachers and staffers, also rolled up their sleeves to help.
Davene Burks, the school’s principal, said she appreciates that the student council came up with the idea.
Call it a “living” lesson plan, she said.
“It’s good for the environment and it’s good for them,” the principal said.
“They’ll get to come back and see ‘their’ trees over the years.”
Wooded showcases, the trees will be, then.
While the Rising Sun Redbud is a compact tree, it still grows upward to a respectable 10 to 12 feet, with a spread of branches that can reach out to 15 feet.
It’s what’s on those branches that make the Rising Sun Redbud a Big Tree on Campus.
Bright pink flowers line its branches in spring, with heart-shaped leaves that have an orange-peach hue when they emerge.
Come fall, those leaves will morph from green, to yellow and orange.
The sapling in front of the Brookhaven Elementary that was surrounded by fifth-graders Colt Coffman, Wyatt Zuercher-Kirby and Iona Woofter this past Thursday morning wasn’t showing a whole lot of personality — yet.
It looked a little gangly and tentative, like the new kid it still is.
A certain trio of students, though, planted seeds of encouragement.
“We’re getting there,” said Iona, who was a tree-planter, even before the project.
“Looks pretty good now,” Wyatt seconded. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s all the way grown.”
“I’m gonna come back and climb it,” Colt said.
Follow The Dominion Post on Twitter@DominionPostWV. Email Jim Bissett: jbissett@dominionpost.com.
