By Lisa Carolin
Spring may seem like a long way off, but in just three months on Saturday, May 6, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., the Arbor Club of Chelsea High School will plant an Alumni Arbor on the high school grounds.
Each class that has graduated from the high school will be invited to plant a mature tree in their class’s designated location on that day.
“With a generous grant from the Chelsea Education Foundation, we have hired Arbor Knoll LLC to design and implement a master plan for the Alumni Arbor,” said Shawn Sinacola-Rodriguez, a Chelsea High School English and Spanish teacher, who runs the high school’s Arbor Club. “In beautifying our school, we desire to connect all past, current, and future graduating classes of CHS.”
The high school faculty complemented this effort with the You Matter Campaign, in which a single weeping willow tree, donated by the class of 2016, will be planted in remembrance of all student lives lost.
“We believe that our arbor is an environmentally positive way to preserve the unique, meaningful legacy that each class leaves behind,” said Sinacola-Rodriguez, who added, “We imagine an arbor that may one day be filled with not only a wide array of trees selected by every CHS class, but benches, pathways, plaques, bird houses, outdoor classroom space, a gazebo, gardens, and bee boxes.”
Sinacola-Rodriguez says the Alumni Arbor will be a place to reconnect with nature, serve as an outdoor gathering space for students and alumni, and be a place to remember friends who have been lost.
Are you a graduate of Chelsea High School? Then complete this short survey so we can connect you to your classmates.
Interested in volunteering on the day of the planting? Fill out this survey here.
Have an idea to contribute to the Alumni Arbor Master Plan? Email:
mailto:[email protected] by Feb. 20. Type “Idea” in the subject line.
Interested in making a charitable donation to help support the implementation of the Alumni Arbor? Contact mailto:[email protected] Type “Donation” in the subject line.
Questions? Contact mailto:[email protected]; Type “Question” in the subject line.
Connect with and “like” us on Facebook: CHS Alumni Arbor
