Video: Portsmouth Middle School Students Celebrate Arbor Day

became a little greener on Friday thanks to the assistance of National Grid, middle school students and the Portsmouth Garden Club.

For the second year in a row, National Grid donated a tree, a frontier elm, which was planted outside the school on Friday afternoon.

Assisting with the planting were middle school students in grades 4 to 7 and members of the school's garden club, not to be confused with the Portsmouth Garden Club, whose members also attended the event.

The students were specially selected for the honor of planting based on an in-school contest held for Arbor Day. Students were asked to think about trees and how they benefit the world.

On behalf of the special ceremony, Town Councilor Keith Hamilton read a town proclamation, which named April 29, 2011 as "Arbor Day" in Portsmouth. Arbor Day is traditionally celebrated the last Friday of April.

Hamilton also asked the students to go home and ask their parents to "plant a tree in their yard."

The ceremony also featured speakers, including students Catie Gaspard, grade 7; Kim Ripa, grade 7; and Haley Gonzalez, grade 6. Guest speakers also included Paul Dolan, deputy director of the Department of Environmental Management's Department of Forestry; Portsmouth Middle School Principal Joseph Amaral; and Brian Satterlee of National Grid.

Dolan presented an Arbor Day award to Town Council President Joseph Robicheau in honor of Portsmouth's work to preserve open space and forestry.

To see more on this Arbor Day celebration, view the video and photos attached.