Stockbridge — Fifty students from Monument Mountain Regional High School were part of Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 19th annual Arborist Day on Tuesday, December 6.
Twenty-six arborists and tree specialists donated their time during the annual event. According to representatives from Berkshire Botanical Garden, throughout the day the volunteers planted five trees, removed seven trees, and conducted structural pruning of 26 trees, including 20 young trees and six mature trees.
An estimated $22,000 worth of work was donated by the volunteers, which included work from Ingersoll Land Care, Sweet Tree Service, Whalen Nursery, Race Mountain Tree Services, John W. Field Tree Service, Burdick Tree, and Property Services.
Students from horticultural teacher William Florek’s class took part in the event. Berkshire Botanical Garden Director of Education Bridgette Stone said that, during the event, students learned from arborists about the importance of arboriculture. “It’s just cool for students to see this highly specialized work in person,” Stone said. “I think for some of them it’s important to see a career path that’s available to them straight out of high school where you can make a good living wage and develop skills that are exciting, interesting, and beneficial to both the community and environment. It’s especially essential with the changing climate that we have in the Northeast, with the increased frequencies of ice storms and wind storms. They are affecting the health of our trees around the country.”
The students got to watch the volunteers as they operated bucket trucks, chip loader machines, chainsaws, and other heavy equipment. “I think it’s essential for students to experience this kind of first-hand learning,” Stone said. “It enhances their classroom experience. It also shows you that you can have a career that can improve your community and the health of the world around you. The volunteers we had all came that day with a real spirit of camaraderie and enthusiasm about how they could show the students how their passion can positively impact their community.”
