Our Decker School Orchard project goal was to plant 150 fruit trees of different varieties with the help of community members and community equipment that was needed. However, since we only could purchase 10 fruit trees with the grant that we received, we did all the planting with the help of my students. They learned a lot when doing so. They dug holes, put in good organic soil, planted the trees, watered them and finally added wood chips for weed control over the soil around the trees.
Since schools were permitted to outdoor activities during the coronavirus, we took full advantage of this and thus planted our trees successfully. We now have completed our Decker School Orchard project for which you provided funding for. Our students will tend the trees over the years to come. We will prune, weed, and provide nutrients to the trees as needed.
The Jack Kimmel grant was very helpful, and we used all the funds provided to purchase our fruit trees. The rest of the materials such as digging shovels, pruning tools, watering devices and tractor equipment were provided by our community. Without the help of the Jack Kimmel grant we could not have planted our fruit trees. Since we are a small school, our school budget would not allow us to purchase the needed items for such valuable outdoor projects. I am an avid nature person and doing outdoor activities such as planting trees is always on the top of my favorite school projects.
Thanks for your support
Elias Wipf, Teacher at Decker Colony School in Decker, Manitoba