Monday, July 26, 2010

SUMMER CREW UPDATE #5

Contributing Writer - Claire Adler, Summer Crew Team Member

As I sit down to write, we are exactly halfway through Summer Crew—four weeks have already flown by. While each day may seem long and often grueling (especially this past hot, humid week), when I look back on the work we’ve done as a whole, everything has gone by so quickly. I am left wondering how it is possible that we have accomplished so much in so little time.




So far, we have watered forty percent more trees than our goal for half the summer. While I had originally thought that the oppressive heat would diminish our productivity, I think it has inspired us to work even harder. And it is especially good that we have done so much since the trees need extra care in this heat.



One thing I love about Summer Crew, and the main reason I wanted to work for
Casey Trees over working as a store clerk, is that I am able to get to know other high school kids from around DC. And I have done exactly that. Each day I discover something new about someone on the Crew, and every week we become closer as a group. So yes, we are successful in part due to our shared goal to beat the heat, but I think that most of our triumphs can be attributed to how we’re able to work together as a group. On the truck crew we switch up the groups every day, but we’re all so familiar with each other that we are easily able to get a lot done. I also have gotten to know the city much better.


Although I have been a DC resident for my entire life, I haven’t been everywhere in the city. By helping making the city a greener place, I have acquainted myself with many new parts of the District. Now that we’ve watered each tree at least once and are revisiting trees for a second or third watering, I really know where I am. I look forward to being able to go to these new parts of DC with my friends and point out Casey Trees' trees.

So these past four weeks have been wonderful, but as I stated at the beginning we have four more weeks left to go. I can only hope that we continue our upwards trend of helping more trees than I would have thought possible this summer.

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