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Arbor Day, simply put, means "Tree Day." During the 1870s, many states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day, and the tradition of planting trees began in schools nationwide in 1882.

Students in Chisago Lakes have teamed up with several organizations for a district-wide Arbor Day celebration which will take place on Friday, April 27.

Pat Collins, Middle School science teacher, has contacted Bailey's Nursery which plans to donate 120,000 seedlings to Minnesota students as part of The United Nation's "Billion Tree Campaign." In honor of the district-wide Arbor Day Celebration, students in Chisago Lakes will receive 2,000 of those trees to take home and plant.

In addition to the seedlings donated by Bailey's Nursery, St. Croix Falls Wal-Mart has provided special pricing on compact florescent light bulbs so that students at Lakeside and Taylors Falls can each take one home to get them started on saving energy.

Teachers at the Primary School will be introducing the "Arbor Day" concept to our youngest students. Some of the activities include a movie called, "Franklin Plants a Tree," tree poems, stories and writing assignments. Each child will then plant their seedling before taking them home. Thanks to Arby's Restaurant for their donation of cups and Mack Landscaping for donating a load of black dirt to help make this happen.

Each classroom at Taylors Falls Elementary has been raising money to buy and plant one 6-7 foot flowering crab tree along West Street as part of a city beautification project. Be sure to stop by and see the results of students' hard work!

Sixth grade students at Chisago Lakes Middle School will be working to plant trees with the Park Service at Interstate and William O'Brien State Parks. Seventh grade students will be building bird houses, planting trees at the Chisago Public Library and Ki Chi Saga Park, and distributing seedlings to new housing developments.

Tyler Fish, a former Chisago Lakes student, will be at the Middle School to discuss with eighth graders his expedition to the North Pole, scheduled in 2009.

Excel Energy has subsidized the costs of compact florescent light bulbs to the middle school, where staff will be re-selling them to help save energy consumption for district families.

The high school has designated April as "Environmental Month." They have weekly themes and student announcements each day during the month regarding those themes. Agri-science classes will purchase and plant trees in celebration of Arbor Day. Wal-Mart's special pricing on compact florescent light bulbs has allowed the high school to give away light bulbs during student lunch periods as well.

And now for the citizen's challenge:

Students in Chisago are asking all Chisago Lakes School District residents to get involved:

1. Plant a tree! (13 billion acres of trees are lost each year)

2. Replace your regular light bulbs with energy efficient compact florescent light bulbs (Florescent bulbs use 2/3 less energy than standard bulbs)

3. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle whenever possible.

4. Adjust your thermostat by two degrees in the summer & winter.

5. Replace the filters on your furnaces & air conditioners.

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