Tree planting effort to increase canopy at island schools

Ten schools have been selected to participate in the statewide Shade Trees for Schools program, a joint effort of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s Kaulunani Urban & Community Forestry Program and the Hawaiʻi Department of Education. The schools are located on Oʻahu, Maui, Lanaʻi, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island and the plantings will increase the statewide tree canopy, in addition to benefitting school communities and surrounding neighborhoods.

The intent of the project is to engage and involve students, faculty, staff and community members at school campuses around the state – creating a local tree team from planning, to planting, to long-term care. Project funding comes through the US Forest Service.

“We’re excited to be able to have a presence on campuses across the pae ʻāina and make a difference in the lived experiences that our keiki are having at school,” said Heather McMillen, Kaulunani program coordinator. “They get to experience all the benefits that trees give them, from health and well-being to an enhanced learning environment.”

STFS is modeled after successful community partnerships supporting schools caring for campus trees. ʻAiea Intermediate School in central Oʻahu is an example of what is possible when motivated individuals at the school and local experts in the community collaborate to plant and care for trees on their campus.

Together, with community groups like Trees for Honolulu’s Future and Smart Trees Pacific, they have created an outdoor “laboratory” with native trees and introduced plants that have cultural and practical significance. Students learn and practice the principles of mālama ʻāina (caring for the land) through an agriculture technology class, a garden club and collaborative cleanups and maintenance work with project partners.

Kaulunani Campus Forester Malia Staab shared: “It’s building relationships around trees. Not just planting them but working with teachers and students on educational opportunities – creating art, teaching science lessons and making lei. Planting trees as a community is about more than landscaping, it can instill a collective pride and ownership that extends beyond the campus.”

Barbers Point Elementary School on Oʻahu is one of the 10 sites selected to participate in the program. Principal Aaron Okumura is excited for the opportunity to engage in collaborative planning to improve the school campus. “It’s a chance for families, community partners, students and staff to work together and improve the experiences that students have at school,” Okumura stated. “Everybody having a voice at our school – students, teachers, administration, custodial staff and families – moves the school forward.”

Kaulunani staff hopes to share ʻAiea Intermediate’s growth and success as an inspiration and model for the grantee schools just starting on their tree journeys.

The STFS program also supports non-grantee schools in campus tree education and the planning process for adding trees and plants to a neighborhood campus. Interested school staff and community members can visit the STFS website for more information.

“Our goal with STFS is to celebrate trees on school campuses and support school-community partnerships for long term campus health,” Staab said. “Hopefully, this is an inspiration for communities to care for trees on school campuses that then care for our students, statewide.”