AA welcomes first school membership
The Association was pleased to award Park Junior School in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, with the first AA School Membership in December 2020. The free programme aims to engage youngsters in learning about trees, to promote arboriculture as a career choice and to raise awareness of the Association.
Technical Director John Parker held a socially distanced tree planting presentation for the school during National Tree Week, which around 150 children were able to watch, thanks to a competition funded by our friends at the Tree Council. John explained a bit about the different species he was planting as well as why trees are important.
After planting several trees, including an Atlas cedar, John presented Lynne Robbins, Deputy Head, with the school’s certificate. More activities are planned with the school, which is a stone’s throw from AA headquarters.
As well as offering an opportunity for educational demonstrations like tree planting, school membership will give teachers access to arb-related resources and lesson plans linked to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) curriculum. Schools will also receive a quarterly e-newsletter and the opportunity for a group visit to the ARB Show in future years. Once the programme and its resources have been utilised by Park Junior School, we will be able to refine and improve them, with a view to rolling out to schools nationwide.
There is also scope for school membership to be expanded to involve local AA members and branches as we look to fulfil our goal of fostering a greater connection between the public and our industry.
This article was taken from Issue 192 Spring 2021 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.