MAGNOLIA, Del. (May 14) – Governor Jack Markell celebrated Arbor Day by joining over 500 kindergarten students at McIlvaine Early Childhood Center for a ribbon-cutting to unveil the school’s new “Tree Walk & Talk Arboretum.” Gov. Markell also honored winners of the Delaware Forest Service’s annual Arbor School Poster Contest and joined in commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the adoption of the American holly as Delaware’s state tree in 1939.

A complete gallery of Arbor Day event photos is at the Delaware Forest Service’s Facebook Page. High-resolution images of Arbor Day Poster Winners are at: http://delawaretrees.com/2014arbordayceremony.html

Forestry officials also announced plans for the State of Delaware to purchase four parcels of Sussex County forestland in the next year at a cost of $1.35 million. The properties, which will become part of the 12,400-acre Redden State Forest in Georgetown, marks the final phase of the state’s ten-year “Green Horizons Project” that has permanently protected over 4,000 acres since 2004.

McIlvaine Early Childhood Center (MECC) in Magnolia is the state’s largest all-day kindergarten program with over 500 students. As a pilot site for Governor Markell’s World Language Initiative (WLI) Program, MECC features the state’s only Chinese language immersion program. About 100 kindergartners spend half their day learning literacy, math, science and social studies in Chinese and the other half in English speaking classes. WLI was successfully launched thanks to the efforts of Kevin Fitzgerald, Caesar Rodney School District superintendent, Sherry Kijowski, McIlvaine Early Childhood Center principal, and Brook Castillo, assistant principal.

MECC’s new “Tree Walk and Talk Arboretum” is the centerpiece of the school’s effort to incorporate “placed-based” environmental learning as part of Delaware’s “No Child Left Inside” initiative. Funded by a “GreenWorks!” grant from the American Forest Foundation’s Project Learning Tree Program, the project was completed with the help of the Delaware Forest Service, MECC staff and students, the Caesar Rodney High School FFA, and local businesses. The arboretum was completed at a planting event at the school on May 7. Photos of the planting event can be found at the Forest Service Facebook page.

The Delaware Forest Service’s Arbor Day School Poster Contest is an annual competition open to students in grades K to 5 in all public, private, charter, and home schools. Winners are chosen from each county in four categories: kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-4, and grade 5. This year’s state winner was Isabella Garber, a Grade 5 student at Christ the Teacher School in Newark.

Forestry officials also noted that 2014 marks the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of American holly (Ilex opaca) as Delaware’s official state tree in 1939. At the time, Delaware was known throughout the United States as the “Land of Holly” because it was a leading exporter of holly holiday wreaths.

The “Green Horizons Project” is a multi-year effort to save working forests from future development. A successful partnership between the State of Delaware, the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, and nonprofit organizations including The Conservation Fund, the successful ten-year effort will culminate this year with the planned acquisition of 370 acres of Sussex County forestland at a total cost of $1.35 million. To date, Green Horizons has permanently protected over 4,000 acres of forests – which provide the public with cleaner water, opportunities for recreation and hunting, and places for wildlife habitat and observation.

At the ceremony, Delmarva Power received the Tree Line USA Award for meeting standards set by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The company also donated 30 trees for tree planting events at schools of winning poster contest entrants, as well as community Arbor Day events for Delaware’s Tree City USA communities.

2014 Arbor Day Poster Contest Winners

NEW CASTLE COUNTY
Kindergarten:  Isaiah Ngugi, Kathleen Wilbur Elementary, Bear

Grades 1 to 2: Jonathan Eppler, Jennie Smith Elementary, Newark

Grades 3 to 4: Maya Rigor, Christ the Teacher, Newark

Grade 5: Isabella Garber, Christ the Teacher, Newark

KENT COUNTY
Kindergarten: Caden John Marx, Maj. George Welch Elementary, Dover

Grades 1 to 2: Holly Helsdon, Nellie H. Stokes Elementary, Dover

Grades 3 to 4: Taryn Martin, W.B. Simpson Elementary, Camden

Grade 5: Juan Velasquez, Benjamin Banneker Elementary, Milford

SUSSEX COUNTY
Kindergarten: Tyler Hutt, Eagle’s Nest Christian School, Milton

Grades 1 to 2: Samuel Winston, Winston Learning Academy, Milford

Grades 3 to 4: Rain Vasey, Watergirl Farm Academy, Lincoln

Grade 5: Stephen Venable, Honor Academy, Milford

 

• This year’s theme is “Trees are Terrific… In Cities and Towns!”
• Free pine seedlings offered to all contest participants

The Delaware Forest Service’s 2014 Arbor Day Poster Contest is now open to all Delaware students in grades K to 5. Public, private and home schools are encouraged to participate as well as after-school groups and youth organizations. Posters are due by April 4th, 2013. This year’s poster contest theme  – “Trees are Terrific…In Cities and Towns!”  – is dedicated to the important role that trees play in our communities and schoolyards. The Arbor Day Poster Contest is designed to help teachers incorporate trees into classroom learning and help students foster an appreciation for nature all around them. As in previous years, the Delaware Forest Service will provide all participating classes with free loblolly pine seedlings, which will be delivered to schools for planting during the last week of April.

• Complete Arbor Day Poster Contest guidelines and rules.
• Teacher lesson plan and activity guide.

State Judging Critteria
On a scale of 1-5, the following criteria are used to judge posters on the county and state level. These should be kept in mind when submitting posters:

• Use of Theme
• Originality
• Neatness
• Artistic Expression

Judges will be selected by the Contest Coordinator and judging will take place at the Delaware Department of Agriculture in Dover. Winners will be announced in early April.

Prizes Awarded to Winners
A winner for each county (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex) will be selected for each entry category (Grades K, 1-2, 3-4, and 5). From these 12 winners, an overall state winner will be selected to represent Delaware as we celebrate Arbor Day 2014. Please note: the National Arbor Day Foundation is no longer hosting a National Poster Contest for fifth grade winners. The Delaware Forest Service is committed to continuing the Arbor Day Poster Contest at the state level.

County winners receive:

• $25 gift card
• ceremonial tree planting held at their school
• invitation to the State Arbor Day Ceremony (attended by the Governor)
• “Tree inspired” children’s book
• winning posters will be reprinted on canvas, framed for display, and given to winner as a keepsake
• winning posters will be displayed online

In addition to the previous prizes, the State Winner will receive an additional $25 gift card.

Please visit the DDA Forest Service website to see the 2013 Arbor Day winners.

Posters must be received by April 4, 2014. Entries should be mailed or delivered to:

Ashley Peebles, Contest Coordinator
Delaware Forest Service
2320 S. DuPont Highway
Dover, DE 19901
(302) 698-4551
Email: ashley.peebles@delaware.gov

The poster contest is designed to supplement student learning in other subject areas by increasing their knowledge about how community trees have a direct impact on Delaware’s health and well-being.  Schools are a perfect setting to incorporate the role of urban trees into a wide range of subjects. Community trees are working trees that provide a variety of important natural benefits:

• provide beauty that can enhance neighborhoods
• shade streets and schoolyards
• create habitat and food for wildlife
• improve air quality and moderate air temperatures
• muffle noise and create privacy screens or windbreaks
• improve water quality by filtering runoff into streams and rivers
• reduce energy consumption

The Arbor Day Poster Contest also offers students the opportunity to plant their own pine seedlings as a great extension of their lessons about trees.

Teachers and parents who are interested in programs designed to increase their knowledge of trees, the many important functions of community trees, or to learn about grant opportunities to make their schools more “green,” visit www.plt.org.

Website link for 2014 Arbor Day Poster Contest Registration and Information
This link will help teachers and individual participants to:

1. Register a class for participation in the contest
2. Reserve free loblolly pine seedlings
3. Access the poster  guidelines and rules
4. Download a curriculum guide.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• Deadline to register and reserve free seedlings: March 14th
• Deadline to submit posters for state contest: April 4th
• Arbor Day in Delaware: April 25th
• Seedling delivery: Week of April 28th