Five Christmas trees lined the entrance out front E.B. de Silva Elementary School on Wednesday, but there were no string lights or traditional ornaments hanging from their branches.
Instead, tree decor was a bit more resourceful: empty toilet paper rolls, Band-Aids, blank DVDs, newspaper, bottle caps — even a cheese grater.
“Trees are kind of like snowflakes — no two are the same,” said sixth-grader Harley Habu, 11, as she showed off the tree she helped construct out of more than 200 empty soda bottles. “We didn’t care if it was perfect or not, as long as everyone tried their best. Our idea was really to have a lot of team spirit, bring families together and to spread a lot of joy.”
The trees were the product of de Silva’s first-ever holiday “tree-cycling” competition. De Silva students, working in staff-led teams of about 90 each, were tasked to construct full-sized Christmas trees entirely from reusable materials.
Students began planning their creations earlier this month. They gradually collected materials and constructed their trees this week.
Final decorated trees were on display Wednesday to be judged by criteria including best use of recycled materials, teamwork and creativity.
The trees remained on campus until Thursday morning and then were donated to the Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation &Nursing Center for residents there to enjoy for Christmas.
“This project is to promote school togetherness but also to promote giving back to the community,” said school event coordinator Cecily Nago. “And touches on the importance of taking care of our environment and working as teams, as ohana.
“And it was a lot of fun seeing all the different creations and how much enthusiasm went into them. Everyone really just pulled together and used whatever resources were brought to them.”
Sixth-grader Kira Alameda, 11, said her favorite part was making the tree with classmates and the “teamwork we put into it.”
“It was fun because we all participated,” Kira said. “Some people made the trees, all of us made the ornaments and it was fun working with the other people and my classmates and friends. I learned that you can accomplish a lot more when you’re working with other people, and what you make can turn out beautiful if you put your mind to it.”
“Everyone’s a winner,” Harley added. “It was really meaningful; I got to bond with people I didn’t really know that well — everyone really did — so it was a very big bonding experience for everyone. A lot of the teachers who don’t really work with each other got to know each other even more and there was a lot of laughter and excitement.”
De Silva first divided into its teams for a food drive in November. The campus raised more than 2,800 pounds of canned food through that effort. Nago said the tree-cycling event also has been “something very much worth doing” and the school hopes to continue next year.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
