What living thing in Mississippi is 540 years old, survived hurricanes Camille and Katrina, lived during the arrival of the French Explorer Sieur D’Iberville along with all wars on domestic soil and is still providing shade and beauty to all who walk nearby? Of course, it is a tree, but not just any tree.
The only tree rooted in this type of stability and history is a live oak, and most specifically, one of the most famous live oak trees in Mississippi, located on the beachfront Gulf Park campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Long Beach. Named the Friendship Oak, it is believed that those who enter the shade of this massive tree canopy will remain lifelong friends.
As Joyce Kilmer said in his poem Trees, “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree,” could be considered an understatement for the massive beauty of this tree and awe of a visit to its outstretched limbs.
Fun fact—the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironside, was constructed from wood from a live oak because it could withstand cannon fire during the War of 1812. Along with its strength, a live oak is known for longevity and a lush appearance year-round, making them a staple in the Southern landscape. Not only do these trees provide shade and beauty, they are also vital food sources for various wildlife and a habitat for a variety of insect species that nourish local and migrating birds who build nesting sites in their limbs.
While the Friendship Oak can live far longer than its 540 years, it is also vulnerable to weather events and other diseases as well as human activity. In its current state, the oak measures 59 feet high with a trunk diameter of 5 feet, 9 inches. Its branches spread across more than 150 feet, and it provides 16,000 square feet of ground coverage. Having stood proudly through many natural and man-made disasters, it has become a symbol of the resilience and spirit of the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
And now, the Center for STEM Education at the University of Southern Mississippi is ensuring the legacy while spreading the beauty and mystery of that more than 500-year-old oak through a project to propagate its acorns and plant Friendship Oaklings across the area. The seedlings are growing well and are looking to take root around the state to continue spreading friendship. As a bonus, this sponsorship-based fundraiser will also spread great Center for STEM Education programming across the state too.
Businesses, corporations and individuals are invited to sponsor the spreading of friendship by matching one of these Friendship Oaklings with an area school. Sponsorship levels start with Acorn at $10 to $100. Acorn donors’ names will be listed on the Center website and social media. The Oakling sponsorship level is $150 to $200 and includes web recognition. Selected Oakling donors may also identify schools for seedlings not yet ready to plant. The Mighty Oak sponsorship level is $250 or more and allows the donor web recognition and a planting ceremony at their choice of school.
The first two seedlings found homes at Clara Elementary in Wayne County and Benndale Elementary in George County thanks to a generous donation to the by Mighty Oak sponsor First State Bank. Additional seedlings are available for sponsorship at an area school at this time and later in the fall when the cooler weather makes planting optimal.
The project is the brainchild of recently retired Center professor Ken Rhinehart, who said of the first planting ceremonies, “I saw the enthralled schoolkids and their active participation with their little hands in the planting process.
“Active learning like that is the best kind of learning,” he continued. “They will never forget that experience; and, if those seedlings survive, they will treasure those trees for the rest of their lives; and, who knows, people 500 years from now shall treasure the trees.”
The Center for STEM Education is no stranger to active learning. All sponsorships support the Center’s outreach efforts, which provide in-person and online programs for students and teachers in Mississippi and beyond. Our most recent addition, S3: Sustainable STEM By-the-Sea, hosts low-cost weeklong environmental education camps in Biloxi throughout the year for grades 3-8. It will also have a teacher training component. The Center’s earliest program STEMonDemand offers K12 STEM lessons online that teachers down the street and around the world can download for their classrooms. STEMonTheGo provided funding for USM professors to create ‘go kits’ to be able to share their research with the public. Finally, regional STEM competitions like the Science and Engineering Fair and Mississippi Science Olympiad give students around the state a reason to get excited about science.
The Friendship Project began many years ago when, with permission from the University, Center employees and their children helped Rhinehart pick acorns directly from the tree. He said that over the years he has perfected the process of propagating the seeds and will happily share his growing tips with the generous donors who donate to share Friendship at a school in the region.
Please send any questions about the fundraiser to [email protected] or call 228-818-8094 with questions. Those ready to sponsor a school can do so at this link.