250-Tree Project Will Help Grade School Stay Cool

Luis Valdez is only 10 years old, but he helped design a landscaping project at Broadous Elementary School that includes planting 250 trees on campus.

“We had too much sun. And now there will be shade and no flooding when it rains,” said Luis, a fifth-grader.

He was one of 30 students who participated in the landscaping project sponsored by TreePeople, a nonprofit group that plants trees throughout the city.

The tree-planting effort at Broadous is part of the Department of Water and Power’s “Cool School” program, which aims to plant trees at 40 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses. Broadous received a $250,000 grant for its project.

About 100 students, parents and teachers on Tuesday attended a tree-planting ceremony, in which two crape myrtles were put into the ground, the first of many that will be planted between now and November.

The festivities included a performance by the school chorus and folklorico dancers in colorful costumes.

“The trees will provide coolness and reduce the temperature so that we don’t have to use the air conditioner as much,” said Broadous Principal Calvin Lloyd. “They will also provide a cooler place for youngsters outside.”

For years, students have missed school on rainy days because the campus and surrounding streets would flood. The trees will help control that problem, said TreePeople Director Andy Lipkis.

“This program will have strategic planting of trees,” he said. “Specific trees will be placed in specific locations, much like acupuncture needles. This will allow us to capture the water and reuse it.”

About 100 species measuring 7 to 8 feet will be planted on the campus and in surrounding areas.

“Now our school will look pretty,” said fifth-grader Vanessa Jimenez, 10. “We need that.”