HARLINGEN — The slender oak sapling with its strong bark bounced in the wind gusts, remaining steadfastly next to the hole where it would soon be planted.
The planting ceremony at Coakley Middle School was one of eight plantings coordinated at schools throughout the Harlingen school district this week. A tree had already been planted earlier Wednesday at Sam Houston Elementary. Another planting was scheduled later at Gutierrez Middle School of Arts and Sciences.
The tree plantings in honor of Earth Day on Friday were coordinated by Texas State Technical College Rotaract, a college branch of Rotary International.
“I thought it would help give the teachers a way to teach the students about the importance of environmentalism,” said Angelina Cortez, president of TSTC Rotaract.
Coakley Principal Pedro Sanchez thanked Rotaract for planting the tree at his campus.
“It’s promoting and beautifying the campus, and it’s also promoting environmentalism,” Sanchez said. “I think our students will really enjoy just having another tree around them.”
Rotaract organizations are located throughout the world. TSTC Rotaract was founded by Harlingen Rotary and Sunburst Rotary a year before the COVID pandemic.
“Both Sunburst and Harlingen Rotary decided to work together to develop the Rotaract Club at TSTC,” said Lucy Cadenas, president of Harlingen Rotary.
“We wanted to bring the leaders from when they’re in school in the elementary schools or in the high schools,” she said. “We wanted to extend Rotary to the college.”
The new TSTC Rotaract — which stands for Rotary in Action — was up and running when the pandemic hit, and everything came to a halt. Kathy Preddy, a member of Harlingen Rotary, was delighted to see things moving again.
“This is coming out of the pandemic,” Preddy said. “These kids are young adults and they’ve been able to meet again and get out and do these projects.”
She emphasized that although TSTC Rotaract is a college branch of Rotary, the members are nevertheless true Rotarians.
“As they move on, go to school at another location, go to work, they can either stay with Rotaract or they can come to Rotary meetings,” she said.
Planting trees is a big part of Rotary, said Richard Mesquias Jr., president of Sunburst Rotary.
“Rotarians continue to plant trees to symbolize enduring friendships and fellowship, to beautify schools and communities, and to contribute to a greener world,” Mesquias said. “There’s something about planting a tree that speaks to people in a very primal way.”
Cortez embraced the importance of tree planting and Earth Day.
“If we take care of our environment and take care of our communities, it just makes the world look better and it’s a better place for all of us,” she said.
And as an aside …
“It’s also a really big thank you to HCISD and TSTC for helping shape us into the individuals we are today as young adults,” Cortez said.
