Forests Ontario names King City teacher Green Leader

Yorkregion.com
November 8, 2018
Sheila Wang

Andres MacMillan does not just take kids out to nature, but makes nature better.

MacMillan, an outdoor education teacher at Country Day School in King City, has been recently recognized as the newest Green Leader by the non-profit organization Forests Ontario for his efforts in tree planting on the school grounds.

“I think it’s pretty awesome,” MacMillan said, after learning he is the first person who has ever been recognized as Green Leader in King Township.

The outdoor teacher helped plant more than 8,000 trees on the school property with the assistance of his students and the help of Forests Ontario and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) over the past three years through the Government of Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program.

MacMillan said he came across the program while doing research for the curriculum of his outdoor in the school year of 2016-17.

Eager to make the most use of the school’s 100 acres of rolling hills, MacMillan jumped right on the program, leading the students on to a journey to the wild.

“We wanted to re-green the school campus which is already green enough but we wanted to bring back some natural forest cover and continue to add to it,” the teacher said.

Three years later, MacMillan and more than 100 students managed to create a little forest of their own at the campus including transforming a cornfield into a land of mixed evergreen trees.

Because of their efforts, the school is now home to a great number of young red pines, red oaks, black walnuts, white pines, white spruces and eastern white cedars.

“Andrew was amazing,” said Kerry McLaven, director of operations for Forests Ontario. “He not only tree planted but he tied in the education component of it. You know, teaching the next generation of forestry practitioners and professionals. That was so excellent to see him did that.”

McLaven said the 50 Million Tree Program, a provincial initiative that connects landowners with professionals in tree planting, has facilitated the planting of more than 500,000 trees around York Region. In King Township alone, program participants have planted more than 70,000 trees through the program.

“It’s actually a win-win,” MacMillan said.

He said spending time outdoors significantly improves kids’ physical and mental health while their efforts of planting trees also improve the environment.

MacMillan started teaching at Country Day back in 1998 as a geography and history teacher who always took every opportunity to take students outdoors for their learning experience.

Three years ago, he transitioned into a role of senior outdoor education co-ordinator who teaches skills like collecting firewood, starting fire, surviving in cold temperatures and planting trees.

But MacMillan said his passion about nature started as early as the age of 12.

“I live my life outside,” said the teacher who spent much of his time camping when growing up.

He gradually realized what being outdoor means to young people and would love to take them outside to learn things that they wouldn't have been able to learn otherwise.

“They’re actually outside in the environment,” MacMillan said. “We want to teach them to love it and then they’ll want to do something about it. It’s taken them away from book-learning into the real-world.”

MacMillan said he will continue to maintain the tree cover, and hopefully they will come back to visit the forest they planted in 10 or 15 years.

While the teacher would like to attribute his tree-planting achievement to his students and TRCA, McLaven said Forests Ontario believes MacMillan well deserves the Green Leader award.

“He’s made such a big impact by participating in this program and doing what he’s done that we really wanted to honour him and make him a Green Leader,” McLaven said.