Wheeling Park High School Students Letting Their Legacy Take Root | News, Sports, Jobs

They can look at the trees and think, “I helped plant those.”

On Friday, members of the Wheeling Municipal Tree Board advised students in the WPHS Green Team club on how to place in the ground the small redbud trees. Members of the club watched – and later assisted – board members Karen Jaunsen and Mary Suhler as they dug holes for the trees.

Jaunsen shared information with the students and advised them not to overwater the trees. Too much water makes the trees “lazy” and their roots won’t spread out as they should, she explained.

They also told them they shouldn’t stake the tree so that it learns to grow and stand on its own.

photo by: Photo by Joselyn King

Wheeling Park High School sophomore Jayma Hunt, left, breaks the ground as Mary Suhler from the Wheeling Municipal Tree Board provides advice on planting redbud trees at Wheeling Park High School Friday morning.

“We want it to be strong,” Jaunsen said.

About 10 students turned out for the tree planting on a beautiful Friday morning. All of the Green Team’s members are females, and are mostly freshmen and sophomores. Their advisor, science teacher Jennifer Hempelmann, is in her first year of teaching. It is also the first year of the Green Team club.

The club focused on bottle cap recycling, Hempelmann said. They moved on to collecting cardboard, paper and plastic bottles in partnership with The Highland s Recycling Center.

“Next year, we’re hoping to expand,” she said.

Jaunsen hopes the students learn the value of trees through the tree planting experience. Not only to they provide shade and energy savings, they also provide storm water management, she said.

photo by: Photo by Joselyn King

Karen Jaunsen from the Wheeling Municipal Tree Board, bending down, provides advice on planting redbud trees at Wheeling Park High School Friday morning.

Residents in Woodsdale know the excessive runoff they have seen in recent years after a large number of trees were removed from a nearby hillside.

“That might be a reason the city started the Wheeling Municipal Tree Board,” Jaunsen continued.

Planting the right trees that are well-maintained and aesthetic also can increase a home’s property value, she added.

Created last year, the board has gone on to plant trees both at Oglebay and Garden parks in the city, as well as at local schools.

The schools have specifically asked Bradford pear trees not be planted on their properties, Jaunsen continued. The trees had been a popular choice for public properties, but their planting is now banned in both Ohio and Pennsylvania after they were found to be “invasive.”

photo by: Photo by Joselyn King

Wheeling Park High School sophomore Jayma Hunt, left, breaks the ground as Mary Suhler from the Wheeling Municipal Tree Board provides advice on planting redbud trees at Wheeling Park High School Friday morning. morning.

An invasive plant is defined as one that is not native to their area, but nevertheless grows anywhere and establishes itself on many sites. They grow quickly, and spread to the point of disrupting plant communities and ecosystems.

Sophomore Destiny Delaney said she became involved in the Green Club to help the environment.

But does she like gardening?

“Sometimes,” Delaney said.