In the heart of West Ranch High School’s upper quad is a blooming tree: big enough to shade current students, but small enough to grow alongside the incoming generations.
Naomi Kim, a 16-year-old junior at West Ranch, spent the past six months working closely with Principal Robert Fisher to begin the beautifying initiative. Reaching out to local businesses, Kim was able to raise enough money to plant the tree. Not only did she want to provide ample shade for students who experience the Santa Clarita summer heat, but to incorporate environmental awareness onto the campus.
“My plans in the future are to [pursue] environmental science, so I’ve always wanted to incorporate the environment within the school,” Kim said. “[I] had the opportunity to contact our principal, Mr. Fisher, to get this tree planted in the space, which used to be pretty barren. There was nothing here.”
The process entailed reaching out to local businesses, along with a few families, who would be interested in contributing to the environmental project.
“We were able to contact some local businesses who were willing to donate to get this tree planted. The businesses donated $500 each. It’s a pretty generous donation, [so we have] a plaque to honor them for donating such a generous amount,” Kim said.
The timeline included reaching out and fundraising throughout Kim’s sophomore year, which resulted in having the tree planted near the beginning of the summer.
“It’s been planted for around three months. It’s still a baby tree, so it will be getting bigger, but it’s been providing shade for the students,” Kim said. “It will get bigger over time — right now it’s a little smaller, but we’re just excited to have a space of environment for the students on campus and to have all these local businesses supporting a local high school.”
The custodians made sure to help out and ensure that the irrigation was properly installed when school was not in session during the summer.
“Our school custodians [had] been working really hard to put the tree in. It came in during the summertime when school wasn’t [in session], and we [had] everything [properly installed]. It’s a well-taken-care-of tree,” Kim said.
Fisher reflected on the positive influence of Kim’s dedication to enhance the landscaping of the school.
“I think it’s great. It helps our campus be a beautiful space. We’re looking to try and provide shade to the students,” Fisher said. “So [Kim] was able to take a planter that was definitely not doing well, and now it’s revitalized and going to be sustainable.”
The tree uses a drip irrigation system, which will be easier to maintain; the tree is also surrounded by drought-tolerant plants.
“This is a large planter, and before it was all sprinklers. The sprinklers [usually] have a lot of water runoff and waste,” Fisher said. “The drip system is a hose drip system that is specific to the plant, so there’s specific holes for water to come out only at the plant and nowhere else. The water is [also] specific to the plant, which makes it much more sustainable and cost-saving.”
Fisher recognizes the beneficial patterns a simple tree can contribute to the overall physical and mental climate of West Ranch.
“I feel great. I obviously want the campus to be safe and beautiful — it’s a place of learning. So we want people to be proud of our campus. [Starting] with one little tree, we’re hoping that we can continue to add to that.”
Kim agrees: “I’m really excited that this vision was able to be a reality. It’s been a lot of work in progress, a lot of contacting businesses, but we’re excited about the fact that we’re able to see [it] every day on campus.”
