Dec. 2, 2024 -- Fourth-graders were excited to get their hands dirty after learning they were going outside to plant trees. About 150 students from five Akron public schools got a lesson on the environment and the proper way to plant a tree. Voris, Sam Salem, David Hill, Mason and Leggett CLCs were chosen by APS Facilities Services as the CLCs that had the least amount of greenery in the school system and could use more shrubbery. “Are you ready to get dirty? Who wants to help me?,” said Tina Graver, a certified master arborist or ‘tree doctor,’ as she cheered on the students at Voris. “The first step is to break the roots up at the bottom of the tree so the tree knows it is no longer in the pot.” She and the children shed off the layers of dirt on the trunk of the tree. “Now we fill the hole up with the dirt and pat down on the dirt. Who wants to get their shoes dirty?,” she asked. The students thought this was one of the best parts of the lesson, gently patting down the dirt or, for some, stomping on the dirt but only using one foot. “Okay, now we mulch," said Graver, who works for Petrarca Landscape Inc. “Think of a doughnut when you mulch -- thick on the outside -- so let’s put more on the outside and very little, if any, around the middle. Remember, like a donut, not a volcano.” The mulch was made out of wood chips. The students took turns scooping up the chips, eagerly covering up the dirt. Graver refers to the first three years of a tree’s growth as sleep, creep and leap. “The first year you won’t see any growth; it will grow underground. The second year, you will see a little bit of growth but not much because it will be matching what’s going on underground,” Graver explained. “But in the third year, you will start to see some growth.” Akron Public Schools teamed up with the City of Akron’s Keep Akron Beautiful and Graf Growers for the tree planting event. The school board approved the initiative last month. Graf Growers donated 10 trees, two for each school. “We’ve been working with Keep Akron Beautiful on the plant-a-tree initiative and learned that parks and schools could benefit,“ said Lisa Graf, co-owner of Graf Growers. “They are maple trees, which give off a brilliant orange color in the fall. They are big trees and will grow 40-50 feet tall and 30-40 feet wide.” She said the best time to plant them is in the fall and spring. The CEO of Keep Akron Beautiful, Jacqui Ricchiuti, worked with Katrina Halasa of APS in an effort to revitalize an Arbor Day (April 25) activity when this opportunity came up. “Keep Akron Beautiful wants to plant 100,000 trees by 2034.” said Ricchiuti. “If we don’t do this, the canopy will decrease to 30 percent by 2040. We are losing 6,540 trees annually; this is why we are doing our best to get all of these trees planted.” Katrina Halasa, the supervisor of science and health for grades K-12, said the purpose was to educate the children about why it’s important to have trees and to expose them to different job opportunities, like forestry. Bryan Ressler, APS grounds foreman, said his department dug the holes for the trees ahead of time and selected open areas, not too close to the curbs and in areas where people can see them. Ressler said that since Leggett doesn’t have a lot of space, the trees were planted at the corner of Allen and Thornton streets. The trees at Mason were planted in the playground area. Graver said, in about 10 years, each tree could grow as tall as 60 feet, sizable enough to put a swing on it. The students were all smiles after their hands-on learning experience as they headed back to the school building. “This was a wonderful opportunity for the students,” said Amber Steele, principal at Voris CLC. “The trees are right in front of the classrooms, so they get to watch their progress.” | 
