Laudato Trees planting program enlists Catholic properties to help increase DC's canopy
Editor's note: This story is part of "Growing a Green Church," an ongoing series focused on churches' efforts to steward their buildings and land effectively in the contest of a changing climate. This project is produced in collaboration with the Christian Century, Episcopal News Service, Faithfully Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, and Sojourners, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network and funding from the Fetzer Institute. Find more stores in the series here.
As the school year sets at St. Thomas More Academy in southeastern Washington, DC, students spring into action for a day of tree-tending.
Eighth graders at the Catholic elementary school swap books and computers for shovels, rakes and hoses and head outside to tend to the more than six dozen growing trees around their campus. They remove old mulch, add some new, and water each of the trees.
The experience is now an annual service project for the eighth grade class, said principal Gerald Smith. "For us to get out and learn about the trees." And also to connect science with faith and the Christian duty to care for all of creation.
