The old east dike in Rosenort got a makeover this week by some elementary kids from Winnipeg. Through a partnership with real estate firm Qualico, the kids from Machray School planted 150 trees along the embankment Wednesday morning, turning it into a community greenspace.

"We decided that trees would be a great option and a great way to use this territory and this land," explains R.M. of Morris Reeve Ralph Groening. He goes on to say the decision was made to turn the spot into greenspace after residents indicated they'd like to see something like that in town. "People in the community wanted to have some defined greenspace, they felt the loss of the barrier that the old dike offered them and we thought this is the perfect opportunity to add value to the community and plant some trees."

Students also took the opportunity to learn more about the environment

Grade four teacher Amandeep Juara says participating in a green project outside of city limits will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some of these students.

"This is something new for them, they never get an opportunity to do this by themselves." "This has been one of the great opportunities where they do learn about planting trees, learning about the environment (and) seeing new people."

She says her students were quite excited for this field trip and points out that the kids had been learning about the environment in their classrooms for two years now.
    
Student Ivy, who enjoys planting a garden with her mom, says she likes learning about the environment.

"It's a place that gives us life and trees also give us oxygen."

She urges others not to destroy trees and plants, but rather keep them safe.

The tree planting fell in conjunction with National Forest Week and served as the finale to a ten year commitment by Qualico to plant 100,000 trees in Manitoba. It's a project that the students at Machray have been helping with for about five years now.
The Manitoba Forestry Association has been coordinating these province-wide efforts; reaching out to communities, identifying a need, ordering the trees and organizing the planting. Patricia Pohrebniuk says communities are selected based on a demonstrated need.

She hopes other Manitoba businesses look at this arrangement as an example for how they can also get involved with surrounding communities.

Students from Machray School helped plant 150 trees