One of the first things you notice when entering Villa’s grounds are the trees. They spread across the 31-acre property from the castle-like building, all the way down the Tom Lord trail to the water. They have been around since the early 1900s when the school was built and served as a home for orphans. Back then they were mere saplings compared to the giants they are now.

What types of trees are they? Quite a variety actually. There are Poplars, Madronas, Spruces, and Douglas Firs, to name only some. The diversity of trees mirrors the different types of students at Villa. Students of all different backgrounds who find protection under the lengthy boughs from the rain, and chase each other around the sturdy trunks. Boys and girls skip down the path to the water, laughing and racing one another, while the trees stand guard and send leaves and pine needles cascading around them.

If only trees could talk. They would tell stories of Villa’s history, of witnessing Mother Cabrini’s arrival and when she decided on this particular plot of land to build a home for youths in need. They might have even peered into the second floor window and seen the miraculous healing of terminally ill Sister Delfina Grazioli after Mother Cabrini appeared to her in a vision in 1925. While simultaneously growing, the trees experienced Villa’s expansion to accommodate and teach 1300 children in the 1930s. The trees saw when Villa was saved from closing by a committed and loyal group of parents, and also when the sisters bid adieu to the school in 1997. To this day, Villa’s trees observe all of the love and compassion that members of the Villa community show one another, as well as the struggles and hard times that the school sometimes endures.

The trees stand tall around Villa with whispers of a sacred history rustling their branches. Some of them are decaying or have collapsed, but members of Villa’s community still honor them by preserving them when possible. At one time, a Madrona tree leaned precariously over the soccer field. Ryan Erickson, the Facilities Director, refused to let such beautiful wood go to waste. The Madrona was made into a beautiful dining room table that was sold at the Villa auction in 2016 and now has a place in a Villa family’s home.

Villa’s trees give life to the school in so many ways. They are homes for wildlife that the students study and observe, and they also serve as subjects for experiments and math equations. The community does such a great job of maintaining and caring for the wealth of nature sitting on Villa’s property, and who knows what interesting secrets and pieces of history that Villa’s gentle giants will continue to witness.