TreePeople is extremely proud of all the work we are currently doing at schools around Southern California. For more information about all of our School Greening projects, click here.
Curriculum update
Last quarter, we shared a brief preview of the curriculum that TreePeople is bringing to the schools in our implementation grants. For the past several months we’ve been piloting our school greening curriculum in these schools. With support from TreePeople’s Director of Environmental Education Strategy and Partnerships, Katie Mills; policy associate, Mary Hillemeier; as well as retired teachers, our team visited classrooms and taught students about the trees on their campus, heat differences in areas of exposed asphalt, and the coming changes that the grant will bring. One 5th grade student at Lillian Street Elementary noted, “I learned that not only are trees helpful to us, but we are also helpful to trees.”
Eventually, all elementary and pre-schools will receive lessons through the grant. Middle and high schools will be supported by TreePeople’s education team.
Burbank Schools
Over the past year TreePeople has worked closely with the Burbank Eco Council (BEC) to hold listening sessions, workshops, and design charettes with 6 schools in Burbank Unified School District. With our partners at SWA Landscape Architects, this planning grant yielded designs for each of the schools, including 4 elementary and 2 middle schools. Beginning in February of 2024, BEC and TreePeople held workshops with students, parents, and staff members at each site to learn about their hopes and dreams for a greener schoolyard. The “shovel-ready” designs will be used to apply for implementation grants so that each of these campuses can have a transformation of their own. Thanks to Prop 2 passing, we are excited about the possibility of these projects being funded!
Sparks Middle School
On February 1st, we held our first planting event as part of our big CAL FIRE implementation grant. The event took place at Sparks Middle School in the Hacienda La Puente School District. Initial work for this project started over the winter break when our construction partners at SLA installed irrigation for the new trees. On the 1st, we planted thirty (30) 15 gallon trees of various species. This project will wrap up with a second event on February 22nd where we will plant the remaining 25 trees that were part of the in house design from our own Edward Saloj (pictured).
School Greening Page Update
In the fall we updated our School Greening webpages to reflect all that we are doing! treepeople.org/school-greening will contain before and after images of the projects TreePeople has worked on at schools across the greater Los Angeles area. With more than 30 projects represented, including recently completed ones as well as those in the planning process, this resource is your go-to for all the information about these projects. In addition, everyone from teachers, parents and guardians, community members, and administrators are invited to submit their project inquiry on our intake form. Whether you are in the middle of a project, looking for ways to beautify your campus, or hoping to connect with our team, this is a great opportunity to register your interest with us. Come check it out! https://treepeople.org/school-greening/
Wilmington MS Update
Wilmington Middle School Living Schoolyard is gearing up for a busy year of construction! The community vision, designed by Studio-MLA and funded by the California Ocean Protection Council, is finally taking shape. We’re working on an outdoor classroom and learning gardens, a creative performance space with permeable paving, biofiltration and rain gardens, and plenty of shady seating where students can watch the California native plants grow and thrive. The Living Schoolyard replaces 17,133 square feet of asphalt with 64 shade trees and 955 native and drought tolerant plants to be enjoyed by 1,200 students, teachers, staff and the surrounding community.For more information on School Greening, visit our website.