By Kate Griesmann
Staff Writer
Carrboro – As the sun started to set on a perfect June day, more than 100 first-graders jumped to their feet and burst into song.
A chorus to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad†filled the tree-lined amphitheater at Carrboro Elementary School, entertaining over 150 parents and siblings who sat on blankets, eating the last of their picnic dinners. The words to the familiar song, however, were changed to something a little more fitting for the occasion: “We’ve been learning about trees.â€
The students and their teachers and families gathered Tuesday night to celebrate the publication of The Trees of Carrboro Elementary, a guidebook containing poems, photographs and illustrations by the school’s first-graders. The book highlights 40 trees that are scattered across the school’s campus and around Carrboro.
First-grader Peyton Bivins flipped to the page dedicated to the Shagbark Hickory, which features a photo of her and a classmate under a tree. “There’s one right over there!†she said, looking up and pointing across the clearing. Peyton is in one of the school’s two dual-language first-grade classes, and the poem on the Shagbrook Hickory page is written in Spanish.
Kitty Heller, a first-grade teacher who is retiring this year, spearheaded the project, which was funded by an N.C. Beautiful Grant in collaboration with the Duke Energy Foundation. The project lasted most of the year, as students recorded seasonal changes in trees, wrote poems and created tree-identification signs to put up around campus.
Heller, who got to know all the schools in the district during her time as a substitute teacher, has always loved the campus of Carrboro Elementary. “This is by far, in my opinion, the most beautiful playground and campus,†she said. When she learned about the N.C. Beautiful Grant, she saw an opportunity to celebrate the school’s beauty while teaching her students about the nature that surrounds them. “It just seemed like the perfect thing to do.â€
Leif Gjestvang-Lucky, who attended the event with his family, contributed to the Dogwood page. “The leaves on the bottom feel really different than they do on the top,†he said, explaining that the tree only blooms in April, when the photograph included in the book was taken. “The best part was writing down about the trees and getting to feel the leaves,†he said, though he added that seeing the final project was pretty exciting too.
Up on stage, two pint-sized emcees, Margaret Stoffregen and Leonardo Salazar, speaking English and Spanish, announced the performers and thanked the families and teachers for coming to the event. Selected students from all four classes recited their poems, shouting to make their voices heard without the help of a microphone.
After more singing, the families split into groups to go on a tree walk and look at the book that was the end product of months of hard work.
“The stars of tonight are your children,†Heller told the assembled parents before the groups split up. “You will be so impressed by what they have done.â€
