High School Tree Planting Program (HSTPP)
High School Tree Planting Program (HSTPP) – Program Details
Participation
In order to make the best possible use of available resources and to ensure the best possible experience for students we have limited the maximum number of participants in any one day to one full school bus (approx 40 students), and a minimum of 25. One teacher per class is required to attend and one additional assistant or parent volunteer per bus is preferred. Teachers and assistants will be encouraged to participate fully in all activities. We recommend a higher ratio of chaperone to students for elementary school students.
Program Timing and Duration
The HSTPP will be offered over a six-week period in spring starting late April and finishing the first week of June and again in fall starting mid September and finishing the end of October.
These half-day programs are split into two basic components, a native tree and shrub planting session and one or two educational activities. Depending on your time of travel we anticipate your total time with us to be about 2.5 hours long. This allows for approximately 30 minutes travel each way and a few minutes here and there for us all to get organized together. We have pre-selected sites across the watershed that should fall within that time-of-travel limit and hopefully should not interfere with your school’s bussing routines. Below is a sample plan for the day. If for some reason your travel distance is greater than 30 minutes (i.e.: we don’t have an available site near you) we can modify the program to suit you. The chart below is for illustration purposes only, if your school’s schedule is significantly different then let us know.
Sample Schedule |
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Morning Program |
Bus Departs for Site |
8:15 |
Arrival / Orientation |
8:45 |
|
Program Block 1 (ie: Group 1 tree planting, Group 2 “activities”) |
9:00 – 10:00 |
|
Program Block 2 (ie: Group 2 tree planting, Group 1 “activities”) |
10:05- 11:05 |
|
Bus Departs for School |
11:15 |
|
Arrival Back at School |
12:15 |
|
Afternoon Program |
Bus Departs for Site |
11:00 |
Arrival / Orientation |
11:30 |
|
Program Block 3 (ie: Group 1 tree planting, Group 2 “activities”) |
11:45 – 12:45 |
|
Program Block 4 (ie: Group 2 tree planting, Group 1 “activities”) |
12:50 – 1:50 |
|
Bus Departs for School |
2:00 |
|
Back at School |
2:30 |
|
Bussing
When you book your date we’ll inform you of the closest available planting area to you and we’ll try to estimate how long it should take you to get there. At that time please inform us as to what time you plan to have students in their seats and on the road. Upon arrival we’ll get a head count of students and so long as the minimum of 25 students are present your school will be eligible for a 50% subsidy of you bus costs. Once your bill for the bus comes in, send us a copy along with an invoice for half the total amount and we’ll issue a check back to the school in that amount.
Tree Planting
CYC will cover all costs associated with tree planting and provide all materials, tools and instruction. All trees and shrubs being planted are native to this area and have been specifically selected for each planting site. The trees and shrubs will most likely be in 1 or 2 gallon pots and range in size from 30cm to 200cm tall, depending on species and age. The cost to us per unit can vary but generally speaking it is an expensive undertaking so we urge teachers and chaperones to remind students to take care when tree planting and to show the trees, the site and each other the appropriate respect. Collectively, youth volunteers will help us plant 10,000 trees and shrubs this year, as they have for the 4 years. Your students are making an important contribution to our local environment.
Educational Activities
Credit Valley Conservation’s Education-staff has put together a package of activities geared towards your students’ age, maturity, and hopefully their interest. These activities could explore various concepts of local effects of climate change and local strategies for dealing with it. They may also explore the notions of watersheds, biodiversity, ecosystems, habitat loss and restoration and environmental stewardship. These programs are designed with your students in mind but matching precisely with your current unit can be tough. If you have something specific in mind call us and we’ll see what we can do.
Planting Sites
The areas you and your class will be travelling are spread throughout the watershed so there should be one fairly close to you. These are municipal parks, natural spaces, and conservation areas. All of them are public lands for which naturalization plans have been designed for.
On site there may or may not be picnic benches, public washrooms, covered areas or other facilities nearby. If necessary / possible, portable washrooms may be provided. If any of your students have specific needs please contact us right away so we can assess the situations and if possible take appropriate measures.
Weather and Other Hazards
As a rule, we work rain or shine. Heavy rains, severe cold, high winds, thunder, lightning, or other potentially dangerous conditions will result in the postponement or cancellation of the event. If there is rain or cold weather in the forecast you should ask your bus driver to remain on site, it could be your only warm, dry place to go. Students and teachers are reminded to dress for the weather and to remember to wear suitable footwear, NO FLIP FLOPS, OPEN TOED SANDALS, OR FLIMSY FOOTWEAR. At a minimum “athletic” type shoes should be worn, boots of any kind are recommended.
It is also fairly likely that these sites or portions of them are unmanaged. Meaning, among other things, the grass isn’t cut. The conditions are safe but somewhat unpredictable. Students and teachers should remember to take care while walking around in tall grass and over uneven ground, especially after a frost or rain.
Poisonous plants like Poison ivy are fairly common across this watershed; we will do our best to help you avoid them. Other plants like Giant hogweed are very hazardous and should be strictly avoided. CYC staff are trained to identify these plants but for these reasons we also recommend keeping your work gloves on, wearing long pants and suggest you consider long sleeves as well.
The most likely and common hazard is the sun. Please remind your students to wear a hat on sunny days, bring there own sunscreen and reusable water bottles, we will have plenty of water.
Environmental Responsibility
Among our objectives here at CVC is the need to help develop in people a “stewardship ethic”. The basic idea is about having a sense of connection and responsibility towards the natural environment, one that motivates a person to actively demonstrate their caring for nature. This will be a topic of conversation, either formally or informally during your class’s time with us. As such we ask that you and your class remember the following:
- Respect the place and the environment that you’re in at all times
- Respect the trees and shrubs you are planting – their survival ultimately depends on it
- Make your lunches or snacks as litterless as possible, carry out any garbage you bring in
- Use re-usable water bottles
- If it’s a cool day, ask your bus driver to dress warm and not idle the engine while he or she waits for you.
- Make the effort to take away from this experience at least one thing that you will always remember about nature or the environment.
- Enjoy yourself!
What to bring
- Weather appropriate outerwear (shell jacket / pants for rainy or cool weather)
- Good, sturdy footwear (something you can get dirty)
- Enough food to give you energy to get through the rest of the day
- Reusable water bottle
- Bug spray
- Sun screen
- Hat
- Extra clothes for layering if it's cold or wet
