In honor of Arbor Day, April 28, Santa Barbara’s Urban Forestry program held tree-planting events on local school campuses last week. The events aimed to provide interactive learning experiences to educate children about the importance of trees and encourage them to take an active role in caring for the environment.

A second-grade student shovels dirt onto a new cherry laurel tree.
A second-grade student shovels dirt onto a new cherry laurel tree. Credit: Courtesy photo

“Arbor Day is an opportunity to get kids excited about trees and all the important benefits they provide,” said Nathan Slack, Santa Barbara Urban Forest superintendent. “By partnering with schools to host tree-planting events, we help connect students with the natural world and inspire the next generation to protect and preserve our vital natural resources.”

Planting events were held at Adams Elementary, Cold Spring School, and Riviera Ridge School. Students from kindergarten through sixth grade heard from members of the city’s Urban Forestry team talk about the benefits trees provide. Then, the kids helped to plant new trees on campus for current and future students to enjoy.

“Our third-grade students look forward to watering and caring for the trees over the course of their elementary school years, watching them grow and provide shade and beauty at Adams,” said Kelly Fresch, principal of Adams Elementary School.

In addition to the new trees, copies of the book “The Boy Who Grew a Forest” have been added to each school’s library, courtesy of the nonprofit Santa Barbara Beautiful, which also covered the cost of the new trees.

Tree planting has been a collaborative effort between the city of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara Beautiful since 1965, and has led to the planting of 13,000 street trees (trees located in the parkway between the sidewalk and the street curb).

Schools interested in hosting an Arbor Day event in 2024 can contact Trees@SantaBarbaraCA.gov or 805-564-5433 to coordinate.