Maya McFadden Photo
Class of 2024 tree planted by John Martinez student council.
John Martinez School eighth grader Roselyn Sampedro’s dream to stay rooted to her middle school forever came to fruition Friday as she helped plant a crabapple tree — in honor of the Class of 2024, and to celebrate Arbor Day.
That was the scene at John S. Martinez School at 100 James St. as its student council joined the Urban Resources Initiative (URI) and local leaders to celebrate Arbor Day.
Sampedro, who is the K‑8 magnet school’s student council president, and her peers requested the trees to honor the Class of 2023 and this year’s 2024 grads. Friday’s plantings were the 29th and 30th trees planted on the campus by URI over the last year.
URI and the city are on a mission to increase the number of the city’s street trees by planting 1,000 trees this year and 5,000 trees over the next 5 years.
URI is also partnering with New Haven Public Schools, Yale School of the Environment’s Forest School, Believe in Me Corporation, EMERGE, Integrated Refugee & Immigration Services (IRIS), the Sound School and Common Ground High School to expand its plantings.
Colleen Murphy-Dunning, director of the Urban Resources Initiative, thanked the students for their recent tree-planting requests at Friday’s gathering.
Click here to watch the Arbor Day celebration.
Student council prez Roselyn Sampedro gets hands dirty to beautify her school and neighborhood.
“What are you guys going to name this tree?” Associate Director for the Urban Resources Initiative Chris Ozyck asked the students.
While “Robert” was one student suggestion, the group instead decided to name the two trees planted “23” and “24” in honor of the graduating classes. The school also has a “22” tree previously planted for the class of 2022 by URI.
Sampedro requested the trees from URI to make her school community look and feel more welcoming, she said.
URI post-grad associate Joshua DeAnda celebrates last day on the job by guiding students through Friday's hands on assignment.
New crabapple tree buds to life.
Sampedro was also inspired to request the tree plantings after attending a three-day leadership retreat in Vermont with Assistant Principal Lauren Sepulveda. Sepulveda brought 20 Martinez and 20 Clinton Avenue School students on this year’s trip. The retreat teaches students about leadership and encourages them to reflect on their communities. During the retreat Sepulveda said the students were able to research local nonprofits that spark their interest acting as change agents in the community. For Sampedro, learning about URI was one of the many outcomes from the retreat.
The student council specifically requested a crabapple tree because of its prominent pink flowering.
“We want the other students to look up to us and see that we really care about our school and the community,” Sampedro said.
In addition to beautifying the school community, Sampedro said she looks forward to the tree helping to provide clean air and shelter for animals.
KattianDrea Alvarez.
In addition to the crabapple trees, URI also planted honey locust and Zelkova trees at the school’s entrance. The new trees at the front entrance Friday required URI to first cut tree pits into the concrete.
Sound School teacher Neil Geist brought along three Sound students who have helped URI to plant about 60 trees this spring.
Once the URI team dug a wide and deep enough hole for the tree’s root flare and got the burlap-wrapped tree into its place and stabilized, the students then came in with shovels to backfill the hole with rich compost-infused soil. Once that hole was filled with a tree, DeAnda taught the students how to shape the top soil into a donut shape around the trunk of the tree.
Eighth grader KattianDrea Alvarez helped to water the tree then dress the soil with mulch.
As students raked and got hands deep in soil, STEM teacher and student council facilitator Alyssa Granata-Basso took on the role as the students’ cheerleader calling out “go Rosie!” and “you guys are amazing!”
Mayor Justin Elicker quizzed the students Friday asking how many street trees the city of New Haven has. One person called out 20,000 to which Elicker responded “higher.” Another called out 40,000 and Elicker said “lower” before sharing that the city has approximately 29,000 street trees.
Elicker highlighted that street trees beautify the city while also providing climate benefits like natural shading. “There’s nothing bad about a tree,” he said.
Sampedro added that she hopes for future Fair Haven students to attend a school that has a calming and inviting atmosphere that allows them to de-stress.
One, two, three…trees!