Pittsburgh students plant trees in Greenfield for Earth Day
Pittsburgh (KDKA) - Students made Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood a little greener ahead of Earth Day and Arbor Day.
There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day, recycle, join a cleanup or plant a tree. Students from Greenfield School planted dozens of trees at Magee Field where many of them play.
Thursday was a perfect day for students to get their hands dirty and make a difference in their community.
"Tree planting is just such a great way to do something that leaves a legacy for a long time, kids can really get into it," said Jake Milofsky, the director of tree care and reforestation with Tree Pittsburgh.
Greenfield School collaborated with the Tree Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh to plant 43 flowering trees at Magee Field in the Greenfield neighborhood.
There was a void on this hillside after dozens of old trees had to be removed.
"All the kids play baseball right on this field. It always makes the kids feel good to give back to the community," said Pat Gallagher, staff member at Pittsburgh Greenfield School.
Putting roots in the ground taught the students the importance of Earth Day and Arbor Day.
"Trees are just so important, they are basically infrastructure, they control our stormwater, they provide clean air, oxygen, wildlife habitat, all kinds of good things which I think we often forget about when we see green on the hillside. We just love to remind people planting trees is important, taking care of trees is important," Milofsky said.
They hope kids also planted a special memory.
"They plant the trees now and then 10, 20 years down the road, they can come by and say I planted that tree, they can tell their kids. I think that's really super," said Barb Warwick, a Pittsburgh city councilwoman.
Greenfield School has been making the community greener for several years. They planted 60 trees on campus and it's a Tree Campus School, part of the Arbor Day Foundation.
The students are keeping the green in Greenfield.
"It's an excellent opportunity to bridge the gap between school and community, and it's a way to bring us together because we can't do this in isolation. It has to be done as a collaboration," said Dr. Brandon George, Principal of Pittsburgh Greenfield School.
"We usually clean up around here and this is just a start of many different activities that we're going to do this month," Gallagher said.
Tree Pittsburgh has many volunteer opportunities on their calendar for this Spring.