LA Students Plant 5,000 Trees After Devastating Wildfires

Small hands in garden gloves are rebuilding Los Angeles, one tree at a time.

Just blocks from where the Palisades fire destroyed Seven Arrows Elementary last year, students gathered at a retreat center to launch something remarkable. Second graders who watched their school burn are now planting the trees that will restore their neighborhood.

The project is called TREEAMS, short for trees and dreams. Over the next three to five years, students will grow 5,000 native trees in campus nurseries before planting them in Altadena, the Palisades, and Malibu.

Seventeen-year-old Sarai Woodard from EF Academy guided younger students as they transferred western redbud saplings into larger containers. "We're gonna put the dirt in, let's pat it down now," she told Tyler, Cora, Atticus, and Eliza as they worked together in the late morning sun.

The vision came from conservation legend Jane Goodall and Margarita Pagliai, who founded Seven Arrows. Goodall was supposed to plant the first tree at the kickoff last October, but she passed away just 15 minutes before the ceremony began.

Students planted that first tree in her honor instead. "She was so powerful that she's within us," Pagliai said at Tuesday's planting event.

The Ripple Effect

What started as immediate disaster relief has become something deeper. When organizers discovered many fire sites weren't ready for planting due to contaminated soil or ongoing rebuilding, they shifted strategies. Now students will care for young trees on their campuses for one to two years, turning tragedy into living environmental science education.

EF Academy launched the first nursery last month with 30 coast live oaks and sycamores. More schools are signing up to host their own nurseries. UCLA and nonprofit EcoRise developed curriculum so students learn climate resilience while nurturing saplings.

The timing couldn't matter more. As students patted soil around native trees at the recent event, smoke from another wildfire billowed in the distance over Simi Valley.

Sixth grader Jackson Von from Seven Arrows learned that many trees in his community are invasive species brought by European settlers, not equipped to handle fire. He now understands that planting native trees helps protect against future disasters.

Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation, praised the approach. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say trees and green spaces noticeably impact their mental wellbeing, according to foundation research.

Thirty young toyon, California sycamore, and western redbud trees now form a nursery where fire once lapped at a chapel and blackened towering redwoods. Students who lived through something difficult are giving back with their own hands, growing hope that will provide shade for decades to come.