FARMINGTON — Students in grades kindergarten through third at the W.G. Mallett School celebrated Maine Arbor Week on Wednesday by planting trees, flowers and herbs on the new school grounds.

They had help from teachers, volunteers and others including Maine Forest Service forester Patty Cormier. They also had lots of donations from the community to make the event happen.

Principal Tracy Williams read a list of contributors to students as they sat on the sliding hill.

It was a day to plant a variety of 30 trees — apple, red oak, blue spruce, river birch, white pine, black spruce, sugar maple, hemlock, lilac, oak and flowering crab. They also planted a variety of flowers and herbs.

Teachers learned how to plant and care for the trees, flowers and herbs before the big day.

They even had a map of where the trees were going. Each class had a job to do, and within each class, students had jobs to do.

They shoveled dirt, dug holes, hauled water, tilled soil, lugged compost and did lots of other associated planting tasks.

Williams told students the cafeteria leftovers came back as compost.

Students and staff save the scraps from food and send it to Sandy River Recycling Association, which composts it.

The big thing today is it is kind of a historic time, Williams said. Just as people did with the old Mallett School, kids and parents enjoy the grounds. Today marked the planting of the trees and students and their families can come back when the trees are bigger and maybe eat an apple from a tree and enjoy the school grounds, she said. The new Mallett School opened at the beginning of the school year.

“Let’s make it a great day everybody. We’re off,” Williams said before the groups of students, teachers and volunteers headed off with shovels, wagons, buckets and other tools.

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