Forrestdale and Deane Porter students participate in the ceremonial planting of a tree as Rumson Borough Shade Tree Commission Chairman Stephen Barrett looks on.

Press release from Rumson School District  

Students at two Rumson schools celebrated Arbor Day with a Legacy Project planting and a poem, as well as a ceremony held at Deane Porter School on the morning of April 29.

The celebration was attended by all students in Pre-K and Kindergarten, two student representatives from each first through third grade class, and Student Government Officers as well as Homeroom Representatives from grades four through eight at Forrestdale School. Dignitaries on hand included Rumson Borough Mayor John Ekdahl, Rumson Borough Shade Tree Commission Chairman Stephen Barrett, and Board of Education members.

For the Legacy Project, students in grades Pre-K through eight participated in a “Bucks for Barks” fundraiser organized by the Student Government Association. Donations totaling $6,281.00 were used to purchase trees that were planted on the school grounds by students in each grade level.

Mayor Ekdahl noted in his remarks that the Borough of Rumson has been designated as a “Tree City USA” by the National Arbor Day Foundation for 12 of the past 14 years.

Following a dramatic reading of the poem “Trees of the Fragrant Forest” by a fifth-grade group, two representatives from each of the classes that raised the most funds participated in the ceremonial planting of a tree on the school grounds.

“A school serves as a pillar of a community, and the Rumson School District is working to fulfill that duty in many ways,” said Rumson School Superintendent Dr. John E. Bormann in his opening remarks. “There are many reasons to plant a tree, and for our students one of those was to foster a sense of community and responsibility.”

Dr. Bormann also expressed gratitude to Liz and Craig Shivers, whose daughter Lita is in the fifth grade at Deane Porter School, for the donation of a Norway Spruce tree.

“It had been our Christmas tree, and we watered it regularly and kept it in good shape for planting,” said Craig Shivers. “It’s been planted in front of Forrestdale School, so now we can visit the grounds and watch it grow.”