Thursday, February 10th, the Forestry and Wildlife classes were called to meet in the lunchroom at 8 am to learn about how their machines work and what they use to help them keep safe while climbing. 

Shawn Bennet, taught us a lot about his experiences, how he came from Michigan and how he knew he was gonna get into the tree service since he was a kid.

Ironically, as someone who “climbs trees for a living,” Shawn is terrified of heights. But because he knows his equipment and what they’re meant to do, he has no problem climbing trees.

The students, all wearing their bright and obvious colored hard hats to prevent any head damage if something had fallen on them, made their way to the 1st tree’s location and learned more about Shawn and his team. 

We all went out to the East side of the high school by the entrance of the teacher’s parking lot to watch the Grace Tree Service cut down a tree that had a dead top and could potentially fall on any vehicle passing under it at any time.

“Pretty cool, I pictured it being less complicated than it actually is, they take things pretty seriously.” Stated Wyatt Aramburu.

Students who were clearly afraid of heights or madly uncomfortable watching one of the guys climb the tree would occasionally whine or say silly things like, “please don’t fall.” Or “I don’t think I’ll be able to catch you.” 

A couple of students, including myself, would close their eyes, look down or away from the tree’s location and just question how or why the climber was doing what he did. 

Natalia Peterson and Sophia Colombat were some of the few students who thought the experience was “cold and at points boring” but we’re thankful to have gotten out of a few classes.

Even though the trip was a short walking distance, it was one of the more fun field trips the class had experienced that year. 

The students didn’t have to do any assignments to write anything down during their experience, they just stood and watched. Some pulled out their phones and took pictures.

Our principal and a few staff members including Mr. Viera had also come outside to watch these climbers do their thing and try to entertain their crowd. After all, it was just tree cutting.

Surprisingly, with the few students who didn’t show up, the ones who did were actually entertained. They found joy watching a regular guy climb a tree like a spider monkey knowing that they “wouldn’t have been able to do that” themselves, said Sophia Colombat.

One of the workers, Shawn, knew that the most entertaining piece was watching the top fall off and hit the ground. Once the top fell he told Mrs. Casas that the most important part was over and they were free to do whatever they wanted.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Caleb Paulson's Ascent up the tree. - Zack Roses