During an event marked by excited cheers and exuberant jumps, 60 kindergarteners and transitional kindergarteners got to help plant seven new trees in the Ruby Bridges kindergarten and transitional kindergarten yard.

The trees – two olives and five autumn blaze maples – are the result of a novel private-public partnership and the passion and vision of a new group called “Alameda Green Schoolyards.”

“Nurture health, bring joy”

Led by Meg Amarasiriwardena, an AUSD parent and garden educator at Love Elementary School, Alameda Green Schoolyards is a coalition of parents, staff, and students that aims to bring more trees and green spaces to AUSD campuses.The group is a subcommittee of the district-wide PTA Council and was launched last fall. 

T

he Ruby Bridges project was funded by a grant from PG&E through the California ReLeaf – Growing Green Communities grant, in partnership with AUSD and with fiscal sponsorship from Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda. Monarch Tree Services installed the trees, and the Alameda Food Bank provided refreshments, and 100,000 Trees for Humanity gave acorns to students to plant at home.

“We are here to help you improve your schoolyard by planting trees to create shade, nurture your health, bring joy, support your environmental learning, and help you build climate resilience,” Amarasiriwardena told the children at the start of the tree planting ceremony.

“Building environmental literacy”
The young students got to vote on the types of trees they wanted from a curated list. During the ceremony, they learned how to take a tree out of its pot safely (for young children and 10-foot saplings, this means stomping on the pot), place it in the hole, and use small hand trowels to fill in the hole around the trees’ root balls.

“Seeing our TK and Kindergarten students so engaged — planting trees, getting their hands in the soil, and taking pride in their school

environment — was truly inspiring,” Amarasiriwardena says. “Events like this are such a meaningful part of building environmental literacy and stewardship in our students, helping them form real connections to the land and a sense of responsibility for the world around them.”

“This is a perfect example of the ways in which public and private entities can work together to improve our schools,” says Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi. “Green Schoolyards, in partnership with AUSD and California Re-Leaf, had a vision, created a plan, and worked with us to implement that plan to the benefit of our students. We are grateful to this new group and all of the other partners.”