Pearl City Highlands Elementary School (PEACHES) held a tree planting ceremony on Friday, November 5, 2011 during Arbor Day at the school campus.
The newly planted Dwarf White Tacoma tree replaces the school's 50 year old tree that toppled during high winds in January. The Outdoor Circle donated and planted the new tree near the same spot that the downed tree had thrived during its lifetime at the school.
Pearl City Highlands Elementary School Principal, Michael Nakasato along with PEACHES staff, representatives from the school's executive student council and student body, welcomed guests that included Pearl City/Waipahu District Complex Superintendent, Norman Pang, executives from The Outdoor Circle and Barry Villamil from MyPearlCity.com.
Principal Nakasato expressed the significance of the tree planting ceremony and its long lasting affect for both the school and community;
"It's really nice to just not always worry about school and academics, but to kind of take time to sit back and just give back to the community and put back the tree that's going to be here 50 years from now," said Principal Nakasato. "Even to this day, we have alumni come from 50 years ago and look at the tree, so hopefully these kids can come back and say hey, I was part of that tree 50 years ago too."
"We're really excited about Arbor Day, said Chief Executive Officer of The Outdoor Circle, Mary Steiner. "We try to pick a school every year or somehow a school picks us. This year, this tree represents so much since they lost a tree in January from a storm. We are just delighted to be able to replace it for them with a very appropriate, beautiful tree like this one."
The Outdoor Circle's, Director of Environmental Services, Bob Loy was tasked with utilizing his expertise in selecting the right tree and location for the tree planting on Arbor Day at PEACHES.
"Bob Loy came out here and he took a look at the location and realized that it needed to be a tree that would be very tall and go straight up," Steiner said with regards to explaining Bob Loy's selection process in choosing the right tree and location. "We knew that they wanted a flowering tree, so Bob did a lot of research and came up with this flowering Dwarf Tacoma tree."
"Without The Outdoor Circle this wouldn't have taken place," Nakasato said. "They donated the tree and they told us where it belonged."
It was the perfect choice with both the variety of tree and location that features the school's beautiful Monkey Pod tree as a back drop to the newly planted Dwarf White Tacoma tree.
Mahalo to everyone for a great job and experience. A special mahalo to the PEACHES Executive Student Body Council team and student body for making their special invited guests feel welcomed and for the beautiful lei.
Finally, mahalo to PEACHES curriculum coordinator, Karen Ching-Hew for providing MyPearlCity.com with photos that captured the images from the aftermath of January's storm that brought down the school's beloved 50 year old tree.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
PEACHES Monkey Pod tree pictured in the background of its new Dwarf White Tacoma tree neighbor.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
The Outdoor Circle, CEO, Mary Steiner (far left) pictured with The Outdoor Circle executives next to the newly planted Dwarf White Tacoma tree on Friday, November 4. 2011 during Arbor Day at Pearl City Highlands Elementary School.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
The Outdoor Circle's, Director of Environmental Services, Bob Loy prepares a spot on the tree for a lei to be placed by a PEACHES executive student body council member.
Photo courtesy of Karen Ching-Hew
Work crews pictured removing the huge tree truck that fell close to the PEACHES cafeteria.
Photo courtesy of Karen Ching-Hew
Slice of the tree trunk from the 50 year old tree that toppled from a storm on the Pearl City Highlands Elementary School campus in January 2011.