The 6th grade class from Bethlehem Elementary has descended on The Rocks for their final visit in the Forever Green outdoor classroom program.
They’ve been coming to the fields at The Rocks each year since they were kindergarteners to learn about Christmas tree farming, tree growth and biology, and the importance of sustainable forestry for the health of New Hampshire forests. They started by planting a row of trees as kindergarteners, watched and cared for their tree over the course of six years while learning about forest community interactions, tree cone production, and intraspecies competition, and waited for this particular moment.
For the sixth graders this year, it’s time to harvest the trees.
The class is divided into groups of two, given a small hand saw and shown how to carefully use said saw to cut down their tree with the help of their partner holding the trunk of the tree and gently pulling it to one side so the saw-er can easily cut through the woody stem.
“It was great watching the kids use teamwork to cut down their tree,” said Nigel Manley Senior Outreach Manager and former Tree Farm Manager at The Rocks, “You could see them using the techniques they had learned and hear them asking their partners to do something they had heard in the directions. They were a rambunctious group, but the hands-on activity was incredibly engaging for them.”
In addition to learning the techniques needed for tree harvesting, the students were also taught about how trees are graded for commercial wholesale and the difference between wholesale trees and retail trees. After harvesting their trees, they brought them to the parking lot and graded each Fir on their commercial value.
“We had quite a few Premiums,” said Manley, “Of course, anyone whose tree wasn’t graded Premium was reminded the rest of the day.”
The Forever Green program is a unique and time-honored partnership between The Rocks and Bethlehem Elementary.
“It’s one of the only programs of its kind that gets kids into the field year after year to observe natural life cycles happening right in front of them,” said Manley, “Very few people get to see farming firsthand, especially not kids. It’s great to get them into the field and give them an education and an appreciation for a very important part of our livelihoods.”
The Forever Green process will begin again in the spring with the new kindergarten class's arrival to plant their tree seedlings in the absence of the sixth graders’ trees.