The York School Donor Impact Report 2018-2019

“This pilot has taken root. By 2025 our ambitious hope is to have planted 325 established oaks we seeded at The York School in Toronto ravines.”

“As humans, it is important to be part of something larger than our time and place.”

“That’s more than 17 percent of Toronto,” Ms. Gordeyev observes. “From food to water to fresh air….Walking on sidewalks all day long, we quickly forget all the things that nature provides for us. Especially if we want to realize a liveable sustainable city with caring kids.” Ms. Gordeyev laughs and says “Patience,” when asked what students learn from the project. “It takes a few years for an oak to take root. Where instantaneous results are at our fingertips, this will be a long-term project. Imagine, White Oaks can grow 35 metres tall and live for several hundred years!” How does the saying go? “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.’” What else might the students learn? “A nurturing spirit and a respect for nature and biology,” Ms. Gordeyev adds. “In 1759 Voltaire proclaimed in Candide ‘we must cultivate our garden.’ As humans, it is important to be part of something larger than our time and place.” With help from the York School Fund Ms. Gordeyev and the Eco Team have started their seed-to-seedling programme in large planters at The York School. Their aim is to bring more native oaks back to Toronto’s ravines. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant one is now.” “Oaks are wonderful team players in the forest, but they can be finicky,” York School teacher and Eco Team coordinator Catherine Gordeyev explains. “Their intricate root system prevents erosion and they are the home and ‘dining establishment’ of choice for many woodland creatures -- from birds to deer. They take a long time to establish and get squeezed out by invasive species like the Norway Maple and the Japanese Knotwood.” Observing the city’s ravines in rapidly declining ecological health, Ms. Gordeyev knew something needed to be done. She recruited the Eco Team for help. While pulling up invasive species at Tommy Thompson Park to make room for native plants to grow and thrive, the club hatched a plan. Teaming up with the Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority and the University of Toronto Forestry Department, the club planted oak seedlings on the York campus. The club will nurture them away from the bullying invasives and will replant them in the ravines where they are badly needed. With the School on urban Yonge St., it resides next to a massive fragile ecosystem, part of more than 11,000 ravine hectares.