As Santa Clarita Valley residents prepare for the city’s annual Earth Arbor Day Festival, nearly 100 kids packed the sunshine-filled schoolyard of North Park Elementary to spread environmental awareness Friday.
“The whole thing was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” said Alexa Canepa, an 11-year-old who attends North Park. “I got to take a shovel and pour dirt into the hole. I also got to film an Earth Day broadcast for the Transitional Kindergarteners here at school.”
Canepa and other members of her class were on hand to help plant a donated tree, while fellow Knights scattered throughout campus to pick up trash and recyclable items, and contribute to the care of their planet.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without Gothic Landscape,” said Traci Utz, a Student services adviser and sixth-grade teacher. They donated their time and the tree to help students come out and make an impact on their environment.
“Gothic Landscape brought us a tree so every year we can come back and remember the time we planted the tree and helped the Earth,” said Matthew Moffitt, student services president .
Moffitt was proud to say that his school’s new tree is a perfect representation of him and his classmates because it’ll always protect, and never harm, the animals or people of Santa Clarita Valley.
Residents looking to reduce, reuse and recycle like the students of North Park Elementary are invited to find ways to preserve the environment at the City of Santa Clarita’s Earth Arbor Day Festival, a local celebration held in conjunction with worldwide Earth Day efforts, at Central Park on Saturday and Sunday.
“Earth Day is important to celebrate,” Canepa added, “because it’s good for us to pick up trash, recycle and keep Earth as clean as we can.”
Saving water and electricity are easy ways to have a positive impact on the Earth, Canepa said. “If you’re going to school, then always remember to turn your lights off.”
