Letter to the Editor:

When an extraordinary event takes place, I feel impelled to share the news! Last week saw the culmination of a lot of planning and above and beyond effort by numerous individuals and organizations from town and beyond. This collaboration resulted in an exciting and successful out of the classroom experience for Marion fifth and sixth grade students. They got to relocate and plant ten native Atlantic White Cedar trees behind Sippican School, and will be taught a new hands-on science curriculum during the remainder of the year. Kids got to enjoy nature, get their hands dirty and have a great time, all the while learning about trees and about local and regional land trusts and how they work to conserve land.

Sippican School teachers Heather Sullivan and Erin Mahoney should be commended for their hard work navigating the challenges imposed on their schedules to ultimately offer an exceptional outdoor experience for their students. They embraced the opportunity, and will be working hard with the kids to tend to the trees and record scientific data for the rest of the school year.

Yelena Sheynin, head steward of the Sippican Lands Trust, and Linton Harrington, education outreach coordinator for The Trustees of Reservations, both deserve huge kudos for the event’s success. The Trustees of Reservations generously donated the cedar trees from their tree nursery at Copicut Woods, and both individuals did extensive legwork to make sure the experience for the kids was informative, fun and ran smoothly.

A special thanks goes to the Sippican Historical Society for providing the funding that made transportation of the students on their field trip a possibility as well as to Sherman Briggs Excavating who pre-dug and transplanted the cedars from Fall River to Marion free of charge.

For all of these reasons, I say this event is a cause to celebrate for the town of Marion! Collaboration yields such higher productivity on any task that is undertaken. It is especially meaningful when educators, non-profit representatives and even private business people work together for the common good, in this case local Marion students. Thanks to one and all and for reminding us why it is so good to live in a small town!

Robin Shields

Executive Director of the Sippican Lands Trust