The Forevergreen Program is a curriculum students at Bethlehem Elementary School participate in each of their 7 years at BES to become acquainted with their local environment by learning about wildlife, various tree species, and ecosystems using Christmas trees as a learning tool.
Listed is each of the years they visit The Rocks and the focus of their trip.
- Kindergarten - Planting of trees
- First Grade - Fertilizing of Christmas trees
- Second Grade - Learn concepts of community, and the differences between a natural community and a monoculture
- Third Grade - Learn concepts of a forest community and tree identification of local species
- Fourth Grade - Introduction to competition
- Fifth Grade - How trees grow
- Sixth Grade - Learn grading system, marketing and economics of Christmas trees.
ADOPT A FOREVERGREEN TREE
When a class starts the Forevergreen Program for the first time, the kindergarten students of that year can plant their own trees and watch them grow year by year up through sixth grade. How do the students who did not get the chance to start the curriculum in kindergarten get into the program? All students can become part of the program by adopting trees of the right age for them to be able to harvest when they are in sixth grade. One way to avoid this problem (as well as to deal with mortality rates of trees) is to plant twice as many trees as there are kids in the class. For example, if there are 12 students in the class, plant 24 trees.
Signs should be constructed and erected which states the trees have been adopted and when they will be cut.
EXAMPLE:
FOREVERGREEN PROGRAM
ADOPTED 1995
HARVEST CLASS OF 2001
Place at the beginning of the row of adopted trees.
THIS ENDS THE TREES ADOPTED BY THE CLASS OF 2001
Place at the end of the row of adopted trees
Explain to the students the signs will help them find their trees each year and it will prevent farm staff from cutting or managing them by mistake.
If possible, set up the area for planting and adopting trees to be where the students can visit them at any any time, including when the instructor is not there. The Rocks sees students, particularly younger ones, who want to bring their whole family to see their trees.
Click here to view the curriculum for Kindergarden through to Grade 6
