FITCHBURG — A tree planting at St. Bernard’s Elementary School on June 2 honored a student who took the top spot in a statewide contest.
Fifth grader Rylee Brosseau won first place in the annual Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Arbor Day Poster Contest for her creative creation aligning with this year’s theme ‘If Trees Could Talk.’ Several DCR staff members came to the school on Tuesday morning to recognize her along with the entire school community and plant a serviceberry tree in her name.
All the St. B’s staff, teachers, and students gathered in front of the school for the special occasion that included singing “This Little Light of Mine” led by Debbie Maloney on guitar and Kim Graustein’s fourth grade class reading Shel Silverstein’s classic 1964 children’s picture book “The Giving Tree.”
St. Bernard’s Elementary School Principal Deb Wright called it “a true Bernardian celebration” and said it is “a very big deal” to have a statewide winner for the first time. She also spoke about the other trees planted on the school grounds by the DCR through the Greening the Gateway Cities program and how they are “happy and thriving” and congratulated Rylee on winning the contest.
Longtime DCR Forester Larissa Parse reported that the serviceberry is a native tree that will grow 20 to 30 feet tall and produce white flowers, one of the first bloomer of spring which is good for “early season pollinators,” and then edible blue purple berries, which are nontoxic for humans and pets.
“They create habitat care,” Parse said of the berries that feed wildlife, noting that they harvest serviceberries up in Canada to make pies, jam, and more with.
Rylee grabbed a shovel and along with St. Bernard’s Elementary School art teacher Jan Testagrossa scooped up some dirt to put on the roots of the sapling that had blue and yellow ribbons tied around the trunk, the school colors, and posed for photos along with the DCR team, school staff, and her proud parents.
When asked what she was thinking of when making her art featuring apple trees with word bubbles saying, ‘Take care of me!’ among other things, the 11-year-old said she simply “looked out the window” for inspiration. And Rylee admitted that while it is “very cool” she got first place, she disclosed that her mom “was more excited than me” when they learned she had won.
Testagrossa showed off the 2027 DCR calendar that has Arbor Day Poster Contest submissions in it, including Riley’s on the cover, and along with her fifth-grade student was gifted a bag of DCR goodies.
“Rylee’s poster means a lot to me as her art teacher as well as the school because she is living up to the mission of St. Bernard’s Elementary School – ‘Deeds not Words,’” Testagrossa said. “Her artwork shows a mature understanding of concepts thus turning that into meaningful art. She is very talented and diligent in her work, and she grasped the concept of the theme superbly and translated it into a great piece. I am most excited when my students love and respect art as an important subject.”
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