Trinity College School students showed the meaning of giving back during a weekend of service learning activities, October 14th to 15th. Not only was the first Service Saturday of the year held, but the weekend also included the annual Big Tree Plant and a special volunteer effort by Brent House at a nearby outdoor education centre.
Saturday was a busy day on campus, as TCS welcomed athletes and coaches from around the province to the annual Bigside Girls Basketball Tournament. A group of dedicated students volunteered to assist with scorekeeping for this event throughout the day.
In the afternoon, another group headed off campus to visit our friends at Aspira Empire Crossing Retirement Living, just across the road. They had a great time visiting with residents and doing some seasonal cookie decorating with them.
Also heading out into the community was the Seeds club. This regular service learning group took advantage of Service Saturday as a chance to tackle two projects. First, they assisted a local senior couple, one of whom is a former TCS staff member, with much-needed fall yard clean-up. Their efforts raking leaves were much appreciated by the couple and their daughter, who had put out the request for assistance. Then the students headed back to campus to do some work on their own “big garden” as well as the new Hugulkultur beds, where they continued to build up the mounds with mushroom compost and manure.
Saturday saw the annual Big Tree Plant on campus, with dozens of students taking part in planting big maple trees by the “Sanctuary Wood.” Trees are selected for this project using the School’s tree replacement matrix, which emphasizes native species and helps to replace trees lost to storm damage and other causes. Students were able to earn Green Cup points for their house, while also contributing to the campus ecosystem and helping to reduce our carbon footprint!
As if all this activity weren’t enough, on Sunday the students of Brent House undertook their own service learning initiative, with the entire house giving its time to assist our long-time community partners at Laurie Lawson Outdoor Education Centre with habitat restoration. Head of Brent House Campbell Hall notes, “The property itself is part of the Northumberland Land Trust and contains a vernal pool (i.e. one that only fills up in the springtime). This particular pool usually serves as an important habitat and breeding location for many frogs, salamanders and other aquatic species. Recently it had been filled in with logs and debris, as the result of the need to cut down a number of dead and dying trees that posed a threat and would have otherwise prevented the public from accessing the area safely. Armed with pitchforks, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels and work gloves, the students tackled this project with lots of gusto! Within an hour, the area was once again cleared and ready for the spring. It was awesome to see! It was also fantastic to spend time out in nature and come away with a sense of having accomplished something meaningful.”
What a wonderful weekend of celebrating the joy of giving back and the value of kindness. Well done, Bears!
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