Festival of Trees at Westfield’s South Middle School WESTFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Decorated pine trees are a sure-sign that Christmas is near. Staff at Westfield South Middle School show students that a tree can be created from ideas and make it a learning experience. Librarian Terry Convery was challenged to bring her library to life this Holiday season, so at this year’s October faculty meeting she pitched her idea: a festival of trees! But these are not your typical trees. “I noticed that they were all doing research. Doing projects and I wanted them to display them here on trees,” Convery explains. Students and faculty managed to come up with 44 different types of trees. For example, there was a Disney Frozen tree, a tree of world flags, another with postcards from all over the world, even the cafeteria and custodial staff joined in on the fun! South Middle School says that creating these trees not only took creativity and being cultured but it was a learning experience. Convery adds, “It’s hands on learning. We have a tree that has over two hundred flags of the world. We have English language learners that needed to learn about America, so they had to research that to create their tree.” STEM students Madisen Ciggal and Marisa Clark designed a tree that represented what they do everyday during their class. Clark says, “It represented who we were as a class and what we like to do and the activiites that we like to do as a group.” There were rulers, a magnifying glass and everything a science and technology class consists of. Both Marisa and Madisen say that this allowed everyone at the school to learn about one another, adding, “The different things that our school has to offer like the culture and the different interest that everyone has.” Ciggal says, “Everyone was creative with it. There are 44 trees here and everyone pitched in and it shows you want people would do.” With just one week away from Christmas, students are continue to decorate the trees, but even after the holiday, the trees will stand until the end of January. Convery adds that she hopes to have double the number of trees next year.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 22:58:36 +0000