(Chelsea Update would like to thank Shawn Sinacola for the story and Katie Stanis-Swaner for the photos in this story.)
The Chelsea High School Alumni Arbor Work Day took place Saturday, April 30.
Here is a link to photos taken by Katie Stanis-Swaner, CHS Class of 2023 during the work day.
Below is a little history that led to this work day at the Chelsea High School Alumni Arbor from Shawn Sinacola.
AP English Literature students conceived of the idea for the CHS Alumni Arbor in the fall of 2016 in the wake of several student deaths, after studying Mary Oliver’s “The Black Walnut Tree,” and at the same time that I asked them to debate whether or not I should allow Consumers Energy to cut down my black walnut tree for $5,000. They debated and determined no, the tree should not be cut down, and it still stands today.
These students initiated the creation of the CHS Arbor Club, created a social media presence to reach out the former Chelsea High School graduates, connected with graduates all the way back to 1943, acted as liaisons to get each class to plant a tree, and were awarded multiple grants to hire a landscape architect and fund the logistics of planting 77 mature trees in an otherwise barren space.
Since the installation of the CHS Alumni Arbor on May 6, 2017, Arbor Club, Interact, and NHS students, among others, have come out to the Alumni Arbor to maintain the space each fall and spring for four-hour sessions. Annually, we weed the trees, apply compost, mulch, and overall maintain their health. We also pick up trash on the school grounds. This year we had over thirty students join us, and it was once again a success in that we were able to teach students how to plant and care for trees.
Over the years, we have added many projects to our outdoor space: a pollinator garden, succession plot (which is not mowed, but rather left to return to nature), blue bird boxes, an outdoor classroom, 1,200 daffodil bulbs (from a Chelsea Education Foundation grant), movable benches (designed and constructed by Dan Lin Class of 2020), a compost bin (designed and constructed by Mason P. Fecker Class of 2019), a Little Free Lending Library (donated by the Chelsea District Library and painted by the class of 2018), a dedication plaque, and a map labeling each class’s trees for the next 100 years. Interact students installed a peace pole in the Arbor in 2020.
The peace pole was donated by Chelsea Rotary who assisted with the installation and often donate their time on our work days. We also have a partnership with the Chelsea Senior Center to grow wildflowers for pollinators.
Arbor Club is also responsible for collecting recycling from the classrooms and composting food scraps from the kitchen and cafeteria. With Independence Hall students, we participate in the NexTrex Challenge, which entails collecting plastic bags and film from the Chelsea community, weighing it, and returning it to Meijer to be returned to Trex to be converted into decking. We won the challenge in 2020 and 2022 for our school size: we collected and therefore diverted 3,933 pounds of plastic from the landfill. Nationally, we took third place. We will soon have two Trex bench prizes under our Memorial Weeping Willow tree (see photo that I attached).
Our future projects include establishing a rain garden at the northwest corner of Freer Road and the high school’s main entrance in partnership with the Chelsea Senior Center, as well as building a passive solar hoop house in the Alumni Arbor in which we will build raised beds for teaching students how to grow vegetables and plants for pollinators.
