School Campuses to Benefit from Forestry Grant

Funds to Bolster Tree Canopy, Environmental Education

Trees Lexington, a nonprofit dedicated to the growth and maintenance of Lexington’s urban tree canopy, has received a Kentucky Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Grant for $250,000 to enhance the tree canopy at 15 public schools in underserved neighborhoods over the next three years.

In addition to the ecological, economic, academic, and social-emotional benefits inherent with increasing campus tree canopy, the grant will enable work with educators and students to design and implement a sustainable model for environmental education. Bluegrass Greensource will partner with Trees Lexington and Fayette County Public Schools to research their preferred native tree species and deeper learning projects on the benefits of their new campus trees. The participants will include:

• Beaumont Middle School
• Cardinal Valley Elementary
• Booker T. Washington Elementary
• Arlington Elementary
• Garden Springs Elementary
• Lexington Traditional Magnet School
• George Washington Carver STEM Academy
• Harrison Elementary
• Mary Todd Elementary
• Southern Elementary
• Southern Middle School
• Tates Creek Elementary
• Tates Creek Middle School
• Tates Creek High School
• William Wells Brown Elementary

“This grant is a dream come true for the schools and neighborhoods that stand to benefit from both greater tree cover and the educational programs it brings,” said Tresine Logsdon, sustainability coordinator at FCPS. “It has the potential to confer benefits for far longer than the term of the programs. Our new campus trees will serve as part of our students’ legacies to their school.”

Did You Know?

Oct. 11-20 is Tree Week across Kentucky