Willowick city and schools have been battling The Hulks of school bullying for awhile, but now they’re working a different kind of green.
Starting Thursday, Royalview Elementary’s fifth grade class will be planting a tree at Manry Park and mounting it with a plaque dedicated to the class for standing up against bullying.
“What’s neat about this is, for years to come, even if they come into that park as adult, they’re going to see their tree,” said Mayor Richard Bonde. “We’re going to continue this every year, so from the parking lot all the way down past the activities center, there will be a new tree planted each year.”
The initiative is in collaboration with DARE officer Carol Ice, Bonde said.
At the onset of next year’s DARE program, both Bonde and Ice will talk to the new fifth grade class to figure out what it is they want to stand up for, the mayor said.
“We’ll want them to think of a theme, something that is important to them that they want to stand up for and we’ll come up with a way they can show it,” he said.”
If you’d like to watch the kids in action on Thursday, check out the planting – between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. – at Manry Park, 30100 Arnold Dr.

-- Cassandra Shofar
CShofar@News-Herald.com