Greenfield Elementary Plants 23 Trees for Shade
Students and volunteers planted native, drought-tolerant trees on the Gilbert, Arizona campus through the Arizona Sustainability Alliance's Urban Forestry Education Initiative.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Environmental
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Students and volunteers at Greenfield Elementary School in Gilbert planted 23 trees on campus on Wednesday. The trees are native and drought-tolerant and were planted in areas where additional shade is needed.
Why it matters
The project aims to add shade to help students stay cooler during Arizona's hot summer months and to address the urban heat island effect, in which pavement and other surfaces absorb and retain heat. It also gives students hands-on learning about local urban forestry.
The planting consisted of 23 trees, a count reported from the school's participation in the Arizona Sustainability Alliance's Urban Forestry Education Initiative. The extraction provides no measurements of expected shade coverage or temperature reduction, and the trees' growth timeline has not been quantified.
The players
Arizona Sustainability Alliance
A organization that runs the Urban Forestry Education Initiative, which selected Greenfield Elementary for the tree-planting project.
Greenfield Elementary School
The Gilbert, Arizona campus where the 23 native, drought-tolerant trees were planted by students and volunteers.
The details
Students and volunteers planted and watered the trees, and some students moved rocks and created walkways to improve the school garden. The school was selected to participate in the tree-planting project run through the Arizona Sustainability Alliance.
Timeline
Wednesday, November 4, 2026: Students and volunteers planted 23 trees at Greenfield Elementary School.
Roadmap
The planting is one campus-level application of the Arizona Sustainability Alliance's Urban Forestry Education Initiative, which pairs tree planting with student learning. It extends that effort onto a Gilbert elementary campus where shade is needed against the urban heat island effect.
Families in Gilbert can support the school's tree-planting effort by volunteering with campus garden or planting days when the school invites them. Shade from newly planted trees will take years to develop, so the benefit to students will build gradually over time.
The takeaway
Planting shade trees on school campuses is one practical way communities can help students stay cooler in hot months and reduce the heat that pavement holds. The benefits will grow as the trees mature.
Further reading
For more on local efforts to cool the city, see Environmental coverage in Gilbert.
Source note: This article includes information reported by abc15 Arizona.
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