144 Trees Planted In Belleville With Aid Of School District, Town

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the Belleville Public School District. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

A tree – many of them, in fact – grow in Belleville.

Thanks to a $249,639 grant through the state’s Trees For Schools program, 144 trees have been planted throughout Belleville, courtesy of the public schools.

The trees and their pollution-filtering leaves will serve as outdoor classrooms for future students who will gather around them and learn lessons in topics ranging from ecology to botany to environmental chemistry.

Plus, many studies have demonstrated that being around trees, interacting with them and simply being able to see lush greenery is beneficial to all-around education, school officials say.

“Planting trees around schools not only beautifies the campuses but also provides a conducive learning environment,” said Belleville Board of Education President Gabrielle Bennett Meany, who also serves as a Senior Natural Resource Specialist for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority’s New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

“The presence of trees promotes fresh air circulation and helps combat air pollution, ultimately leading, we hope, to improved concentration and academic performance among students,” she added.

The municipal and school Green Teams plan to organize community outreach efforts to promote the importance of the newly planted trees, as well as encouraging appreciation and support for planting even more.

The groups plan to host demonstrations at each school, showing how to properly plant and care for a tree. Future events will be linked to Arbor Day, community clean-up day, Community Bike Day, healthy lifestyle day, celebratory days and the township’s annual Green Fair.

The school district and its dedicated team of groundskeepers have continuously added new outdoor classroom spaces, assisting educators and green team leaders by creating learning stations comprising vegetable gardens, pollinator gardens, wildlife habitats and more.

They worked with the township manager and the Department of Public Works in planning for the planting and caring of shade trees, ornamental trees and shrubbery located on or near township rights of way.

"It's great to see the school district and the township come together for something so meaningful,” said Matthew Paladino, business administrator and secretary for the Belleville Board of Education. “This grant will make an immediate positive impact on the environment and will go toward educating students on the importance of trees and their ability to sustain the environment.”

The state, through the Trees for Schools program, recently awarded 23 public school districts, two public charter schools and nine public colleges and universities a total of $4.55 million to plant trees in and around their campuses.

Grants ranging from $12,000 to $250,000 are earmarked for the costs associated with planning, site preparation, trees, planting, watering, monitoring and related expenses over a three-year period.

A key goal is to help mitigate climate change and its impacts through the planting of more than 3,000 trees across the state. In many cases, the grants will benefit neighborhoods that are devoid of trees and experience elevated temperatures because of excess pavement.

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