Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Can your child name the 22 trees native to Indiana? Would he know them if he saw them?
No? No problem. A project at Harrison Elementary School can help them learn the names of the 22 native trees and what they look like.
The Hoosier Heritage School at Harrison Elementary is a replica of a one-room schoolhouse during the pioneer days.
The native tree project, in conjunction with the Hoosier Heritage School, was the brainchild of Harrison Elementary Principal Randy Polston.
"One of my goals was to add to the atmosphere and environment out there at the old log school," said Polston. He had no specific plans on what to add when the log school was completed during the 1992-93 school year.
In 1996, Polston's parents' friends, Don and Donna Robinson, made a comment that it would be "neat to see the trees native to Indiana out there." Polston's parents passed the idea on to him.
"I thought, that is a great idea," Polston said.l "That just gives another opportunity for children to learn.
"We have so many parents involved in schools nowadays, to get a patron involved who doesn't have elementary students is great."
Polston applied for a grant to the Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services in November 1996. The project was awarded a grant for $1,000.
Polston began working with Sauder's Nursery. He gave them the information and plans on what he wanted to accomplish.
"They have been my primary resource in finding these trees up to a point," Polston said.
Several were found and Polston is still trying to find the ones they don't have yet. Even though Polston initiated the project, he isn't alone on it; Harrison teacher David Huemmer began working on the project.
"His forte is nature and science," Polston said. Huemmer helped Polston get in touch with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Huemmer and Polston also created the curriculum for students to learn more about the trees.
The main objective of the curriculum for kindergarten through grade two is for the student to be able to look at the leaf of one of the 22 trees and locate the tree around Hoosier Heritage School. For grades three to six, the students will be able to identify the 22 trees native to Indiana, locate them around Hoosier Heritage School and discuss the life cycle of each.
The curriculum also lists 24 activities students can participate in, such as researching, diagramming, experimenting, demonstrating and designing.
Polston said the curriculum is not just for students at Harrison Elementary School. All students and all classes in the Warsaw School Corp. are welcome to study the 22 native Indiana trees.
Anyone of any age interested in Indiana trees can study them, Polston said.
As an extension of the tree project, Huemmer developed an environmental club at Harrison. The club takes care of the trees year-round.
"He teaches a lot of them about science and nature," Polston said. Wendy Thomas, a new teacher at Harrison School, joined the project this year and helps with the environmental club.
The 13 native Indiana trees currently around Hoosier Heritage School include white pine, staghorn sumac, white ash, black cherry, cottonwood, eastern redbud, flowering dogwood, persimmon, red oak, sugar maple, sycamore, tulip and white oak.
Barlett's Tree Service and NIPSCO (now NiSource) donated three trees, including the sugar maple and swamp white oak. They also donated mulch to the project and a sweet gum tree, but it is not on the list of Indiana native trees from the DNR.
The persimmon tree was difficult to locate and Syracuse Elementary provided Harrison Elementary with a couple of them.
Nine trees have yet to be added to the project. They are the eastern red cedar, red pine, black locust, black walnut, shagbark hickory, American beech, slippery elm, pawpaw and sassafras trees.
"What I'd like to see out there is 'Little House in the Woods,'" Polston said.
With so many trees, and some duplicates, some trees die off from overheating or other reasons.
"We've lost a couple of trees from excess heat or whatever," Polston said. "Suppliers have been great in replacing them."
