GREENEVILLE – Tusculum University has received additional support for its Level I arboretum with a donation for signs from the Greeneville Woman’s Club and stakes to hold them from the North Greene High School FFA.

Holding the check are Jordan Baker, left, and Vivian Gibbons. The remaining participants in the ceremony are, left to right, Kim Carter, Dr. Heather Henson-Ramsey, Pam Leisner and Dr. Peter Noll.
The club recently presented a check for $500 to Tusculum representatives in a get-together on campus that followed outreach from Kim Carter, science laboratory assistant, chemical hygiene officer and Environmental Protection Agency coordinator at the university. She also used her connection as a North Greene FFA Alumni member to receive assistance for the stakes from current students in that school’s agriculture program.
“We are proud of our arboretum and encourage the community to come to campus and enjoy all of the beautiful trees on our campus,” Carter said. “We are grateful for our partnerships with the Greeneville Woman’s Club, which has been a longtime friend, and the North Greene FFA. Their assistance enables us to provide additional detail about the trees and our commitment to a rich environmental setting for the Tusculum family and our guests to enjoy.”
Carter’s connection to the Greeneville Woman’s Club dates to her days as a Tusculum student when she took classes with Dr. Dan Barnett, a chemistry professor who served at Tusculum for 28 years. The two later served together as Tusculum employees before he retired in 2013.
Barnett is married to Pat Barnett, a member of the Woman’s Club’s environment department, and Carter spoke to the club about the arboretum, which encompasses the whole campus. Carter regularly updates the club about Tusculum’s activities, and after her newest presentation, the group made the donation.
“We donate to the arboretum project each year because we believe that its mission to protect and educate children and adults about the incredible diversity of trees we are so lucky to have in our area closely aligns with the stated mission of GFWC’s environmental work,” said Vivian Gibbons, co-chair of the environment department. “Our mission is to protect, preserve and educate others about our natural world.”
The club has also actively supported the university’s nature trail with funds for signage that have been placed along the pathways and at the entrances.
To reduce the cost for the arboretum signs, Carter turned to the North Greene FFA for helping making the stakes. She contacted Charles Michel, the FFA’s advisor, to ask whether that group would be willing to help. He enthusiastically accepted but requested that the university provide the metal, welding material and paint. The class completed the cutting and welding.
The university was pleased to team with the FFA and hopes there will be additional opportunities to collaborate.

Left to right, North Greene FFA students Cody Duvall, Blake Hurd, Kinslee Sauceman and Larry O’Neal stand by stakes they created for the arboretum signs.
“We agreed to participate because this was a great community service project for our students,” Michel said. “This was a practical project for my students and met many of my Agricultural Mechanics course state standards. Students learned metal layout and estimation. They used metal cutting tools and a welding torch for making the bends and welding and painting for final assembly. We enjoyed this project.”
Tusculum’s arboretum is due for recertification during the summer, and the university is working through that process now. Tusculum established the arboretum in 2015 through Carter’s efforts. The largest concentration of trees in the arboretum is between Shiloh Road and Gilland Street and between the road running in front the Scott M. Niswonger Commons to the Erwin Highway.
“The arboretum is an outstanding resource for our students and supplements their in-class instruction with hands-on learning outdoors,” Carter said. “We are blessed with a lot of natural resources on our campus that reinforce how our entire campus functions essentially as a laboratory for learning. We are thankful people in the community understand that value.”
More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.