Branchburg school's tree-planting ceremony part of drug-free, leadership program

The willow tree now in front of district administrative offices and Central Middle School represents the Willow Tree Teen Institute, a statewide, year-round drug prevention and leadership program for middle school and high school students.

The program has been at the district since 2005 and is overseen by school counselor Kathy Gorski. Thirty-six students have participated in the program since its inception. Its activities have included arranging assemblies and speakers as well as peer tutoring, mentoring and mediation.

"What feedback I've gotten from them is that they take away an increased awareness in other people's feelings and sometimes how they talk to one another," Gorski said after the Wednesday, Oct. 29, ceremony.

This year's students are organizing the school's first Mix-It-Up lunch days held Thursday, Oct. 30, and yesterday during which students were encouraged to mingle with peers they may not typically associate with.

Read on
The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Hawaii resort project calls for investing in trees

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii -

Visitors to the Big Island will have a chance to buy and plant a tree and then reap part of the profit when it's cut down in 30 years or so.

They'll also be able to monitor the tree's progress on the Internet, including how much carbon dioxide it absorbs and whether it ends up as a skateboard, koa canoe or part of a wind-power generator.

The Mauna Lani Resort and True Offsets, which is already developing a mill to process the wood, are partnering in the new ecological restoration project.

Guests will be offered the chance to plunk down $37 to buy a tree sapling, plant it in Hamakua and then watch it over the next several years via a Web site.

The plan is to mail tree investors a check for 5 percent of their plant's value at harvest time, which could be up to $2,500 on a koa tree that's worth $50,000 in today's market.

Or, less patient investors could go for something like bamboo, that could be harvested in about three years with a much smaller return. A single plant likely would produce only about $30 worth of bamboo in that time.

Read on
The painting is by Laura Tasheiko