“Like a letter in a bottle that’s tossed far out to sea,
This special tag has been placed upon your Christmas tree.
Let me introduce myself, I’m a child at Silver Crest,
A school in tree farm land, way out in the West.
I wonder where you’re reading this poem sent just to you.
And if you’d like to write me, I’ll tell you about my school.
You’ll be sent information on how your tree was grown
From a tiny seedling to the tree that’s in your home.
So don’t delay, just write me at the address seen below,
And have a happy holiday with lots of fun and snow.”
By Jan Jackson
Visit with most students in the Silver Falls School District and they’ll tell you they use emails, text messaging and cell phones to communicate with friends and family members.
The students at Silver Crest Elementary School near Silver Falls State Park can add Christmas trees to their list of ways to communicate with others.
For 11 years the students have sent messages in Christmas trees, hoping whoever buys the tree will send them a note about where the tree landed for the holidays.
Surrounded by Christmas tree farms owned and operated by civic-minded growers, the 140 students at Silver Crest School also receive a better concept of the global world.
“These kids get to see how their small, rather isolated community has an impact on the world,” said Abby Greene, a longtime teacher at Silver Crest.
Greene said each of the students in first through eighth grade places two or three special tags on trees that invite whomever buys the tree to write to them at the school. When a response comes back, the student writes a personal letter and includes a brochure that talks about Christmas tree farming in their community. Sometimes, even pen-pal friendships come out of it. To make the assignment fun as well as educational the school staff puts up a map so students can track where the trees went.
“Letters come in from people all over the world and in all walks of life and some send T-shirts, photos of the tree after it’s decorated and photos of their family,” Greene said.
“One year, a student got a response and some memorabilia from the actress in California that does the voice over for the animated Jimmy Neutron series. We’ve had responses from a Catholic monk, retail nurseries, someone from the University of Hawaii and as far away as Asia. The kids really start watching the mailbox.”
The brochure the students send out explains how the tree started as a seed, was transferred to the field as a seedling, how it was clipped, trimmed and harvested and finally shipped to the person who bought it. It also tells about Silver Crest School and the community that lies between Silverton and Silver Creek Falls.
It shares how students walk across the road with their tags, post the received letters on the map, and offers a thank you for helping them learn about the world.
Howard Shingledecker, a production manager for Cascade Best Tree Farm, looks forward to the tree-tagging project.
“It is delightful to see the hopes and aspirations these kids have when they put their tags on the trees,” Shingledecker said. “They put their tags on and then go back to the classroom and wait for the letters to come in. It not only teaches them so many things but it is a cool thing to watch.”
