The Rumson School District recently celebrated Arbor Day with the initiation of a Legacy Project as well as a ceremony held at Deane Porter School.

“A school serves as a pillar of a community, and the Rumson School District is working to fulfill that duty in many ways,” Superintendent John E. Bormann said in his opening remarks at the ceremony on April 29. “Today is an example. We gather here due to the efforts of a partnership between the school, Student Government Association (SGA), PTO, the borough, Shade Tree Commission, and community members to help students contribute to their community by planting trees to commemorate Arbor Day.”

For the Legacy Project, students in grades Pre-K through eight participated in a Bucks for Barks fundraiser organized by the SGA. Donations totaling $6,281 were used to purchase trees that were planted on the school grounds by students in each grade level.

The Arbor Day celebration was attended by all students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, two student representatives from each first- through third-grade class, and student government officers as well as homeroom representatives from grades four through eight.

Dignitaries at the event included: Rumson Borough Mayor John Ekdahl, Rumson Borough Shade Tree Commission Chairman Stephen Barrett, and Board of Education members. In the interest of involving more students in the celebration of Arbor Day, Barrett had suggested to Bormann that the longtime tradition of activities for kindergarten students should be expanded to encompass all grades.

“I would like to thank Dr. Bormann and the Rumson School District for supporting our efforts in this way,” Barrett said to the crowd.

Mayor Ekdahl noted in his remarks that the Borough of Rumson has been designated as Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation for 12 of the past 14 years.

Following a reading of the poem Trees of the Fragrant Forest by a fifth-grade group, two representatives from each of the classes that raised the most funds participated in the ceremonial planting of a tree on the school grounds.

“There are many reasons to plant a tree, and for our students one of those was to foster a sense of community and responsibility,” said Bormann. “We thank our students for taking on this responsibility with enthusiasm by raising Bucks for Barks and we thank many others for their contributions.”

In addition to the PTO, Shade Tree Commission, SGA, and the school community, the Arbor Day Legacy Project was made possible by the generosity of Rysers Landscape Supply, Diehl Landscape & Design, and T. Burke Honnold Landscaping.

Bormann also expressed gratitude to Liz and Craig Shivers, whose daughter Lita is in the fifth grade at Deane Porter School, for the donation of a Norway Spruce tree.

“It had been our Christmas tree, and we watered it regularly and kept it in good shape for planting,” said Craig Shivers. “It’s been planted in front of Forrestdale School, so now we can visit the grounds and watch it grow.”

— Edited press release from Rumson School District