WESTFIELD – As the school day wound down yesterday, Marisa Clark and Madisen Cigal, seventh graders at South Middle School, were still in the library, but for an unusual reason, since the library has become a home for more than just books lately.
Clark and Cigal were traipsing through 44 tree shaped structures, made by a host of different students, faculty and staff, as well as other groups and organizations, to celebrate the holiday season in the first annual “Gallery of Trees”, an initiative first announced in October.
“The theme of the gallery was to come up with a tree to display what you’re learning in your classrooms,” said librarian Terry Convery. “It covers everything from a custodial tree to the woodshop to the cafeteria staff, the nurse… It involved the entire school.”
The actual building of the trees began in November and Convery, in her first year heading the library, along with South Principal Dennis Duquette, sought to “bring the library to life” in a way that would reflect the season while also building on their studies and further establishing a sense of community in the Silver Street school, which houses 603 students.
While the individual grades all had trees themed after their mascots, some departments built unique trees representing their curriculum, with the shop class building a green tree out of wood and a STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math) class decorating a black felt tree with test tubes and other scientific devices.
“I like STEM because there isn’t a curriculum for that. You can do what you’re interested in,” said Clark.
“We have a project where we walk around and help get rid of recycling,” added Cigal.
As to what the response from the school’s faculty and staff has been, Convery described it as “overwhelming.”
“Everyone got into it. There’s just so much artistic talent in this school,” said Convery. “You can’t test creativity and I’m a firm believer in hands-on learning and when you create something. These kids go home and they’re talking about what they just did.”
Convery used one tree, made up of the periodic table of the elements, as an example.
“You think they’re going to remember them? I do,” she said.
Other trees were created to celebrate the school’s diversity, including one with flags from around the world, as well as one with different ways to translate common phrases into such languages as Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian, and a tree for the school’s anti-bullying campaign.
Even Principal Duquette got in on the fun, supplying students with recycling bins and plastic bottles with which to make a “recycling tree”.
“It started off as the ‘Festival of Trees.’ We thought ‘what can we do to create spirit for the holidays without focusing it on Christmas specifically?'” said Duquette. “We’re not going to single out Christmas because, in a public school, that’s a no-no, so it has to do with the spirit of the holidays.”
Duquette said the Gallery of Trees has showcased the school’s diversity and has given students a different perspective on how to work together and creatively, highlighting administration goals to foster a creative, fun learning environment.
“We get a lot of parent input and support. They like what’s happening here,” said Duquette. ”
Asked if she believes the Gallery of Trees, which Convery said will be on display until the end of January, should return again next year, Cigal and Clark are in firm support.
“I think it will be cool to see what everybody thinks of each year,” said Cigal.
“The first year is the ‘calm before the storm’, so the next year, maybe we’ll get hundreds of (trees),” added Clark. “We may need another room to put them in.”
