“Trees and plants always look like the people they live with, somehow.”
In a week that saw our curious Kindergarten kids learning ‘out under the trees (O.U.T.T)’, it was entirely fitting that we also celebrated Arbor Day at SJR.
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Arbor Day on Tuesday, May 29 was a great success with hundreds of students in Middle and Senior School assisting certified arborists in the planting of trees throughout the day. CTV News interviewed members of our Senior School Green Team. You can watch the interview here. With more than 350,000 ash trees in Winnipeg, it was acknowledged how SJR is being proactive in the fight against the emerald ash borer beetle.
Our entire campus turned into a classroom as students learned about tree root systems and the proper way to plant trees. Students helped plant 40 trees in a variety of species including linden, maple, and hackberry. Plans are being developed for the coming years to ensure that ash tree removal is strategic and only a small number will be removed each year. Eleven ash trees were removed from the north-east corner of the front field to make room for a few new trees.
Thank you to everyone who made a donation in support of this initiative. This option will be included in our annual giving campaign for the next few years, so we can continue this important project and preserve our beautiful campus. I am grateful to our Grade 12 graduates who chose to support the tree replacement program as one of their Legacy Gift options. If you would like to make a gift to support this project, please visit https://www.sjr.mb.ca/giving-day.
Zora Neale Hurston, author and anthropologist, said that “Trees and plants always look like the people they live with, somehow.” Contemplating the hundreds of imposing, strong and graceful trees that “live with” the SJR community, I feel the weight of our responsibility to protect them. Just as we nurture the children in our care and are consistent and persistent in looking out for them, so too must we look after our campus. Just as we prepare our students for adulthood, so too must we preserve our environment for future generations of SJR families.
As we approach the end of the school year, when energies wane and heads begin to drop, EagleFest and Arts Week arrived at just the right time. EagleFest was jolly good fun and well organized thanks to the SJRPA and supportive SJR faculty and staff. Arts Week (May 28 to June 1) proved as invigorating and refreshing as ever. Supported by their enthusiastic teachers, students are performing in plays and shows, improvising at lunchtime, singing in assemblies, showcasing videos, enjoying coffee houses, launching Ibid. and taking over the School’s social media feeds! The Middle School Spring Concert and the Senior School Band Concert featured extraordinary music making and proud parents in equal parts, and I may have danced home after both events. Members of the Senior Administrative Team meet daily in the McGarry Guild Gallery and our brief get-togethers this week have been enriched by the Grade 12 artwork currently on display. Do try and see it next time you are in School.
SJR is proud to be accredited and affiliated with several local, national and international educational organizations.
St. John’s-Ravenscourt School was founded in 1820 principally to serve the children of the Selkirk settlers. By 1834 there were forty students, evenly split between boys and girls. SJR has inevitably grown and changed over the years since, though its success throughout has been unimpeachable. Today the programs are as strong as our reputation. A strong academic program is paired with an equally strong attention to the values of stewardship, ethical leadership, and excellence in all areas of academic, social and athletic life.