Kalgoorlie-Boulder school kids plant fruit-bearing trees as community pitch night project becomes reality

Students at a Kalgoorlie-Boulder primary school will be able to watch the fruit-bearing trees they have helped to plant grow as a project that started at a community pitch night becomes reality. Kalgoorlie-Boulder local Sarah-Jayne Eeles pitched her vision of a community with an abundance of fruit-laden trees enjoyed by all at the crowdfunding On a Wing and A Pitch event in July. “I love the idea of a built community environment that just produces free food for just anybody,” Ms Eeles said. “We all had that one neighbour who had that fruit tree and anything fruit hanging over the fence was fair game. “I think it’s just that sense of community that really inspires me.” Two months on Ms Eeles said she had been able to gather 16 trees donated by individuals and businesses, which she is distributing to community groups across Kalgoorlie-Boulder. St Joseph’s Primary School was among the locations to receive trees as part of Ms Eeles’ project, with Year 2 teacher Colin Radici welcoming the opportunity to provide his students with hands-on learning. “This term Year 2 (students) have been learning about earth, especially about the resources the earth provides us, and this ties in perfectly in the sense that we’ve looked at plants and trees and what they provide,” Mr Radici said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to actually look after something they are going to plant and grow.” He said it would be special for the students to see the trees as they start to produce fruit. “Especially with this year group, it gives them the chance to see something they’ve started and hopefully the final product when it starts fruiting,” Mr Radici said. “They get to see the whole process — going to the shops is fine and seeing all those products — but to actually see it happening at school they can see it grow, they can see it flower and fruit and all the birds that come and interact with it.”