Rees Elementary Recieves Volunteer Award

Representatives of the U.S. Forest Service presented Spanish Fork's Rees Elementary with the 2009 Chief's National Volunteer Award, a distinction only a handful of organizations in the country can claim each year. Since 1997, Rees students, teachers, and and volunteers have provided 20,000 collective hours to the Diamond Fork Youth Forest to help blaze trains, conduct wildlife studies and decorate educational areas. This award comes from the Chief of Forest Service who works directly under the president.
Each student received a commemorative pin and a card bearing a quote from William Wadsworth: "Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher."
Over the years students have helped create a 2.5 mile path called the Discovery Trail, including much of the actual scraping, gravel-hauling and bush-trimming required to blaze a trail. They also marked it with informative signs that students helped to design.