On April 30, community members and students planted trees at St. Angela School in Austin.
The event at St. Angela’s marked the end of an eight-week TreeKeepers course for Chicago’s West Side put on by Openlands, a nonprofit aiming to conserve nature. Five Treekeepers from Austin graduated from the course: Mary Gardner, Crystal Gardner, Aniki Coates, Candice Santos and Chicago First Lady Stacie Johnson.
These five women TreeKeepers are now considered ambassadors for the Chicago area’s urban forests and are certified to plant and protect trees with Openlands – including leading tree planting and pruning events and organizing education and advocacy for local trees.
Over the last 30 years, Openlands has fostered over 2,100 TreeKeepers who look out for trees in their neighborhoods, identifying issues and working with local forestry officials to ensure that trees continue cleaning the air and helping with stormwater management.