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WC’s Earth Day Celebration to Highlight Sustainability

Event Features Giving Out 40 Trees between 2 and 4 p.m. Wilmington College will observe the 48th annual Earth Day April 20 by focusing on the importance of sustainable practices. (PICTURED) Earth Day flag by John McConnell While Earth Day is actually on Saturday, April 22, the College’s Agriculture Department wished to include academic applications for the day that was first designated in 1970 as an annual celebration of Mother Earth — and a caution for its fragilities. Several faculty members will incorporate discussion on sustainable practices into their Thursday courses, including Dr. Monte Anderson, professor of agriculture, who will address fruit production and the need for pollinators in his class. For those wishing to sit in, Anderson’s class meets from 8 to 9:15 a.m. in the Center for the Sciences and Agriculture. Students in the WISE (Wilmington Institute for Stewardship and Engagement) program will distribute 40 trees, between 2 and 4 p.m., at the pavilion behind Pyle Student Center parking lot. There, equipment used in sustainable agricultural practices will be displayed and food produced at the College’s farm will be available for tasting. Also, the public is invited. Dr. Corey Cockerill, associate professor of communication arts and agriculture, said the WC’s Earth Day kick-off events should heighten students’ awareness of the national observance coming that weekend. “As a department, we thought the campus should have an opportunity to reflect on Earth Day in a meaningful way,” she said. Capping off the day will be an auction of artwork as a fundraiser for the Joshua Keith Memorial Scholarship at Wilmington College, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., in Pyle Student Center. The event will feature a silent auction and a live auction, the latter of which should start at 6 p.m. Prize drawings will be held. Joshua Keith was a 2014 WC graduate in agriculture for whom a College travel experience in Costa Rica enlightened him about sustainable agriculture practices, which he wanted to share in the United States until his tragic death in summer 2014. Incorporating Keith’s passion for educational travel, the memorial scholarship will fund international and domestic travel scholarships for WC students.