Helen M Cox
Susan F Belgrad
Crist S Khachikian
Tree Planting and Education in a Next Century Public School
Project Type:
Project
Project Sponsors:
- California Releaf
Project Award:
- $37,174
Project Timeline:
2016-04-08 – 2019-06-30
Lead Principal Investigator:
Project Team:
Former PI |
Other |
Other Faculty |
Former PI |
The goals of the project are to provide much-needed greenery to a very disadvantaged neighborhood, to beautify the landscape, shade buildings, remove pollutants from the air, sequester carbon dioxide, and provide food and habitat for many insects, birds and animals. In periods of heavy rain, they will also reduce stormwater runoff and provide erosion control. The tree planting project will enrich the community of Pacoima through these benefits and provide improvements on a larger scale by reducing climate warming through the removal of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This occurs both through the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and through energy savings from buildings due to shading of buildings by trees. The trees will be planted by volunteer children, teachers, staff and parents at the school, and by volunteer students from CSUN. Engagement of volunteers, parents and the community in school activities has been and continues to be vital in building the success of the school. In addition to the tree plantings themselves a major component of the project will be education and outreach, provided through a partnership between CSUN?s School of Education and Vaughn charter school. Education professors at CSUN will work closely with a team of teachers at Vaughn to develop curriculum in environmental science that supports the plantings, growth and maintenance of the trees and engages students in their study. Thus the children will have a stake in nurturing and supporting their growth. Vaughn Next Century public school has recently expanded to include a new site in Pacoima which is in need of landscaping and shade. Parents and community members recently added a vegetable garden at the school, and a play area; however the site offers few trees for shade and other benefits. Under this proposal fifty three climate appropriate, drought tolerant shade trees will be planted at the Global Green Academy site on Herrick Street in Pacoima (see attached site map). This site is within census tract 6037104320, and is classified as a disadvantaged community by CalEnviroScreen, lying in the 91-95 percentile.