Olive Peirce students plant trees to spruce up their campus
About 20 Olive Peirce Middle School students helped plant 24 trees on their campus with the help of arborists contracted by SDG&E.
About 20 seventh- and eighth-graders involved in maintaining Olive Peirce Middle School’s new campus garden recently planted 24 trees around the visitor parking lot and bus loop.
The March 9 tree project was coordinated with San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sustainable Tree Program. Students and arborists worked together to plant five African sumac, six desert museum palo verde, three desert willow and 10 manzanita trees.
Students helping to plant trees are, from left, Chloe Beck, Celeste Martinez, Mikayla Pucillo and Alina Madrid.
(Courtesy Olive Peirce Middle School)
Former Olive Peirce student Nathan Davila, an arborist for the Davey Resource Group, which is contracted by SDG&E, came up with the idea.
Davila said he had a good experience attending Olive Peirce as a seventh-grader 19 years ago. When he returned to the school to say hello to his former P.E. coach last year, he met Principal Nicholas Williams, who has been looking for ways to make the campus more green since he came onboard two years ago.
“Putting trees here is awesome,” said Davila, who is manager of SDG&E’s tree planting program. “For the kids who are planting these trees and for everyone else in the community, this effort is really spreading the message that trees are awesome and they provide a lot of great benefits for us.”
The utility company has a goal to plant at least 10,000 trees annually, said SDG&E spokesman Edgar Hopida. Since the program began in January 2021, SDG&E has planted more than 22,000 trees in its service territory, Hopida said.
Davey Resource Group Arborist Nathan Davila, left, and Jimmie Webb of SDG&E help Ramona students plant trees.
(Morgan Justice Black/SDG&E)
SDG&E’s Sustainable Tree Program donated the trees. Davey Resource Group arborists were each paired with a group of four students to provide guidance as students dug the holes and planted the trees. Students were also instructed on the proper methods of planting trees and shrubs as well as post planting care needs.
Kevin Akers of Davey Resource Group guides Olive Peirce students in planting trees at their school.
(Morgan Justice Black/SDG&E)
The SDG&E program tied in with the work already being done to “green” the campus with more trees that provide shade, Williams said.
“A great benefit of this is that because this is a student-led endeavor, in 20 years when students are driving by and these trees are huge, they will be able to tell their kids, ‘Hey, I planted those trees. I was part of the initiative to bring trees to Olive Peirce when I was a student there,’” he said.
Olive Peirce administrators have been looking for opportunities to let students work outside the classroom in nature, to contribute to the appearance of their campus and to make contributions that will benefit their community, Williams said.
“This activity met all three goals,” he said. “The students who participated were selected by science teachers as those that have shown particular interest, aptitude and enthusiasm while working in the two Olive Peirce Middle School outdoor science spaces, the Dan Langhoff Science Garden and the vernal pool field behind campus.”
Students planting trees are, from left, Ivan Davalos-Villegas, Arnulfo Perez, Isaiah Lucas and Nathan Everard.
(Courtesy Olive Peirce Middle School)
From left, Corbin Fox and Avril Vallaneda dig a hole to plant a tree.
(Courtesy Olive Peirce Middle School)
