To mark this special day, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has partnered with local artist Xavier Cortada to bring his Reclamation Project/Native Flags initiative, a participatory eco-art project to help regrow our native tree canopy, to each of the District’s schools. Prior to Earth Day, each school will receive a native tree sapling and green project flag to be planted on the school grounds. Upon planting the flag alongside the tree, students will be able to proclaim that they are “reclaiming that land for nature.”Other partners in this effort include Miami-Dade’s Deering Estate at Cutler (where the project’s Native Flags initiative is based), the Miami Science Museum, the local chapters of the American Planning Association and American Institute of Architects, the U.S. Green Building Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), and Veber’s Jungle Garden, Inc.

WLRN has produced an informational video, which can be viewed and enjoyed during Earth Week and particularly on Earth Day, describing the importance of engaging students and the community in planting and nurturing these small tree saplings over time to help increase our native tree canopy; the video can be accessed at the District’s website.

Let’s make Earth Day 2010 the beginning of a tree planting tradition in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. And remember: the more trees we plant and nurture to maturity, the cleaner our air, the better our quality of life and the smaller our carbon footprint.

http://www.dadeschools.net/

http://www.reclamationproject.net/