Memorial Tree Plantings Scheduled on Arbor Day

04/26/2013  11:00 am to 1:30 pm

Texas Township Campus and Arcadia Commons Campus

Kalamazoo Valley is hosting two Arbor Day events on April 26 to honor the memory of a former instructor and a former student.

At 11 a.m., a tree will be planted on the Texas Township Campus near the wind turbine. This tree will be dedicated to Pat Cherpas who passed away recently. She taught Communications and English at the college for 25 years and was a favorite among students.

At 1 p.m., a tree will be planted at the Arcadia Commons Campus in memory of Anastasia Schauer, who was a former student and the daughter of Dr. Mark Schauer and his wife, Cynthia Schauer, who is a Kalamazoo Valley biology instructor. The 24-year-old was a nurse in Colorado who died in a car accident in August 2012. “The celebration of Arbor Day provides our college community with the opportunity to recognize and appreciate our beautiful campus,” said English and Transitional Studies Instructor Natalie Patchell. “We have been actively doing tree plantings on Arbor Day for the last four years in an effort to become a certified "Tree Campus."  And we have added another tradition of remembering individuals who have recently passed by dedicating one of the trees planted in their honor.” The tree planting ceremony at Anna Whitten Hall is presented by the Alpha Rho Nu Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.