By Ernesto Rodriguez | Executive Director
I wanted to thank you for the donation you made last fall and your belief and support of our idea to bring nature into the classroom. The pandemic has taken its toll on all of us, and exponentially so on teachers. Teachers have had to innovate, improvise and manage an increased workload in addition to the added work and stress of attending to their family’s needs. Our original intent was to use your donation to help the hard-hit Latino community by putting tree canopies at Para Los Niños School in East LA. When I reached out to them, they declined our offer. They felt it would be too disruptive given the stress of these times.
Then serendipity stepped forward. Through a referral, we connected with TreePeople and began to explore a partnership. I created a portfolio of Southern California tree canopies as the next step to see where that would lead. TreePeople then introduced Nature In The Classroom to LAUSD as part of their joint program to incorporate nature into the classroom. LAUSD is currently launching a socio-emotional learning program that incorporates exposure to nature to promote mental health. I met with the principal and teachers last week at Gage Middle School in Huntington Park. Their enthusiasm, professionalism, commitment to education and knowledge about the science, power, and benefits of bringing nature into the classroom is overwhelming. Gage Middle School is a Title 1 campus serving the Latino and African American communities. Your donation will meet our original commitment to help students and teachers deal with the stress of returning to the classroom in East LA. We will be installing the new canopies at the end of July in the library and classrooms.
Thank you for your support of teachers and students in these unprecedented times!
Ernie
By Ernesto Rodriguez | Executive Director
By Ernesto Rodriguez | Executive Director
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