Mount Saint Mary College First Year Experience students and Bishop Dunn second graders planted a pair of trees together on campus earlier this month.
A pair of new trees stand now outside of Bishop Dunn Memorial School, thanks to principal Nancy Benfer’s second grade class and a team of freshmen and faculty from Mount Saint Mary College’s First Year Experience (FYE) program.
The trees – one maple and one Yoshino Cherry – were planted in the same area where another had once stood years ago; a tree that Benfer, a 2004 graduate of the Mount, and Mike Daven, longtime professor of Mathematics and an FYE faculty member, have fond memories of.
Last year around the same time, another group of Bishop Dunn students and Mount mentors had planted a red oak tree on the same patch of land. The new trees bring that count up to three, with plans to add more in the coming years.
In addition to Daven, the Mount faculty and staff who made the event possible were Michael McGuire, assistant professor of History and Political Science, and James Phillips, associate professor of Theatre at the Mount.
Fr. Greg Fluet, Vice President for Mission and Ministry at the Mount, began the ceremony with a prayer and expressed his admiration for the enthusiasm exhibited by the young students of Bishop Dunn.
The second graders and the Mount freshmen helped to shovel and rake the soil around the new trees. The second graders then took field notes and drew pictures, capturing their perspectives and memories of the event. The college’s facilities team also helped with the planting.
It will be around 2038 when the second graders of Bishop Dunn graduate from college. Should they attend the Mount, noted Benfer, they can visit their trees and take photos with their family.