Feb 17, 2022 3 min read

The Kids Helping Kids Club, Environmental Club and AP/IB environmental science students at Upper St. Clair High School have joined forces to plant 250 trees throughout the community.

To reach their goal, the students have partnered with Tree-Plenish, a nonprofit that provides communities with affordable tree saplings to improve sustainability.

Community members can support the initiative by purchasing a tree for $5. The varieties of trees are flowering dogwood, red maple and sugar maple.

Saplings will arrive at Upper St. Clair High School April 23, the day after Earth Day. Those who order can choose either to pick up their saplings at the school or have them delivered and planted by student volunteers.

Faculty members are excited about helping students lead a project that connects their interest in the environment with service to the community.

“A really large number of our students are extremely passionate about making a difference for our planet and also in service projects that benefit their community. This project seemed like a perfect marriage of the two,” said Russ Hoburg, science teacher and Kids Helping Kids Club sponsor. “Our hope is that we will give families, especially those with young children, an easy avenue to get their kids excited about taking care of the environment and their community. The trees that they plant together as a family can serve as a constant reminder of this small step that they took to make the world a little bit of a greener place.”

Also helping with the effort are Janine Despines, librarian and Environmental Club sponsor, and Lynn Kistler, science department curriculum leader.

While the use of technology has reduced the school district’s paper usage, students are hoping to further mitigate the environmental impact by planting trees.

“The goal of 250 trees is reflective of the high school’s paper usage over the past year,” Hoburg said. “In a nutshell, the goal is to offset the number of sheets of paper that our building uses by planting a similar number of trees in the community.”

He said Tree-Plenish has existed as a student-led organization for the past couple of years and grows to serve more communities each year.

“We found out about the organization in the fall, and it fit well with the common goals of both Kids Helping Kids and Environmental Club,” he said. “The Environmental Club connection is pretty direct, and many students in KHK are passionate about sustainability and helping to ensure that the planet will be a beautiful and healthy place for the children of today to grow up and raise their own kids in the future.”

In addition to being able to order trees online, students and community members interested in volunteering to plant saplings on April 23 can sign up at tpevents.org/school/2370 and select “Volunteer.” Families with young children are welcome to sign up as a team.

To purchase a tree, visit tpevents.org/school/2370 and click “Order a Sapling.” The deadline to order is March 23. For more information about the tree project, email Hoburg at rhoburg@uscsd.k12.pa.us.