Gaelscoil an Choillín pupils ‘Plant a Planet’

One hundred and 40 native Irish trees were delivered to Gaelscoil an Choillín last Thursday as part of their involvement in the ‘Plant a Planet’ campaign.

Free trees have been given to all families attached to the Lynn Road school to plant at home, which ties in well with the Green Schools Flag Gaelscoil an Choillín already have. They are now working towards a Youth Environmentalist Award.

The Green Party mayor of Mullingar, Cllr Hazel Smyth, helped the school to source the trees at no cost, in conjunction with Westmeath County Council and Belvedere House.

Sixth class pupil, Alannah Burke, said that fifth and sixth classes have been working on the project, teaming up with students from other schools, as part of the Irish Schools Sustainability Network.

“We discussed the benefits of planting trees, and our aim originally was to get at least 10% of the students and staff in the school to plant a tree at home in a bid to help the climate. Currently our planet is 1.2 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times,” which is having a terrible effect on the planet,” Alannah said, adding that of a survey of 10,000 young people across the world, it emerged that 75% were frightened about the future and climate change.

Another sixth class pupil, Tommy Nally, involved in the project said: “We’re excited that our trees have arrived and we would like to thank the families who are putting the time and effort into helping the planet.

“We’re asking parents to take a photo of their children planting the trees,” said Tommy, who added that he his plan was to plant his tree on his dad’s farm. “The trees here today are all native trees, including oak trees, but you need room to plant those because they grow so big,” he said.

Another pupil with green fingers is Moya Kilmartin, who said she had a spot already picked out in her garden to plant her tree. “I’m going to plant it and keep looking after it. We’ve learned a lot from creating our school garden here, so I’m going to put those skills into use,” she said. “We’ve learned a lot about the environment and nature, and how the planet is changing, so it’s important to plant as many trees as we can,” said Moya.

Vice-principal, Trína Ní Nualláin, said there are various initiatives running in the school, including the GIY sponsored school garden, the Green Schools initiative, as well as Plant A Planet.

“So we really are taking action here in our school, and in the process learning new skills and having fun, which in turn has a positive impact on the wider community,” Trína told the Westmeath Examiner on Thursday.

“We’re working with secondary schools and the TYs came up with the idea that it would be great for every family to get a tree. The parents association contacted Cllr Smyth and she organised it in conjunction with Westmeath County Council,

“We have 140 trees here today, and one parent also did up a leaflet with instructions on how to plant and look after the trees.

“It’s just really about us working together for climate action, to feel that we’re doing something here as a school, and the children are delighted to be involved and actively doing something,” said Trína.

Members of Mullingar Tidy Towns were there to present two benches made from recycled pallets for use in the school garden, while members of the Delvin Road Policing Unit, Gda Lyndsay Martin and Gda Chris Lynch, presented the children with high-vis vests for the gardening and outdoor pursuits.

Horticulturist Isolde Dingerkus works with the school two hours a week on their GIY garden, and she said kids from junior infants up to sixth class learn all about gardening, biodiversity, the environment, and everything to do with climate change.

“We’ve planted loads of fruit and veg, and I have to say the whole school, students and staff, they’re all so interested in trying to make the environment in the school better, but also in the wider community.

“The kids do the litter pick every week and Tidy Towns come and collect the rubbish. They also have their Green Flag, and they’re down to a small household bin of rubbish that you can’t actually recycle, which is phenomenal for a school this size. It’s inspiring to see,” she said.