With funding provided by the Georgia Forestry Commission, Trees Atlanta expanded its efforts to connect Atlanta Public School students to the great outdoors at their schools and in their community. The BeltLine Arboretum Education program seeks to engage students, teachers, and the community in urban forestry projects that transform school grounds into more attractive, healthy, and educational places. Building upon our successful 2008 pilot at Brown Middle School where more than 150 students restored native wildlife habitats by planting trees and shrubs, Trees Atlanta has expanded the program and works with six schools:

 

Brown Middle student studying oak acorns, an important food source for wildlife (left).  Interpretive signs on the BeltLine Arboretum in the West End Neighborhood (right).

Click on the school names below to find

out what the program is doing in each school!

• Kipp Strive Academy

• Samuel M. Inman Middle School

• Brown Middle School

• Grady High School

• Tech High School

• Atlanta Charter Middle School

 

BeltLine Arboretum corridor (red loop) circles downtown Atlanta (labeled), the Interstate 75/85 connector, and BeltLineArboretum schools (stars). Click here for a larger image.

 

  These schools are located on or next to the

  BeltLine Arboretum corridor, which is a

  collection of trees designed and planted for

  aesthetic, research, and educational

  purposes along the BeltLine.

  The BeltLine will combine greenspace, 

  trails, transit, and new development along

  22 miles of historic rail segments that will

  connect 45 in-town neighborhoods.

  Our GPS-correlated curriculum delivers

  content and hands-on experiences that

  provide environmental, social, and

  economic benefits to the school and

  community:

  * Trees and the importance of natural

      habitat in our urban environment;

  * Wildlife ecology and urban forestry;

  * Citizenship and community involvement

     through service;

  * Careers in the environment;

  * Reflection and critical thinking;

 

 

A teacher workshop and training at Brown Middle.

The BeltLine Arboretum Education Program will provide schools with:

• Standards-based interactive presentations about the benefits of trees and our urban forest;

• Teacher training and resources including curriculum and lesson plans;

• A school grounds master plan to identify and guide future opportunities;

• An inventory of all the school's trees;

• Tree planting and tree care projects;

• Creating or enhancing an existing environmental student club with programming and activities.

 

Students will build skills, knowledge, and confidence through collaborative outdoor learning, student leadership opportunities, and hands-on projects that implement the master plan components students and administrators care most about. Students will help inventory campus trees and identify locations for new trees.

The creation of environmental clubs provides advanced and extracurricular study opportunities during and/or after school. It will also be a mechanism to sustain support and energy for future school ground projects. Trees Atlanta and the BeltLine Arboretum Partner Network will serve as mentors and resources to the clubs providing programs, trips, and activities.

Research in the United States has shown that students who engage in a curriculum of environmental education are making greater academic gains and developing higher-level thinking skills. The same study goes on to say that students who engage in environmental studies are able to deal with complex problems and issues, are more resourceful, more strategic thinkers, and are more willing to deal with problems (Lieberman & Hoody, 1998). Furthermore, this project seeks to better connect students to nature in a manner that develops appreciation -- respect, stewardship, personal and community pride, and exposure to a rapidly growing and important career in environmental conservation.

   

For more information, contact Greg Levine.