The new Burbank campus of the Lycée International de Los Angeles (LILA) will be teaming up with Los Angeles environmental group TreePeople from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, October 26th, 2013 for a campus greening project.
TreePeople’s Pam Gibson and Dede Devlin, who is also a school parent, will lead the school community of students, teachers, and families in planting 13 shade trees and almost 300 California native plants to create a natural oasis in the quad of LILA’s newest campus. The Burbank campus, which opened to students in late August, has undergone drastic renovations that transformed it from a former General Motors training facility to a fully functioning school for 263 secondary students. Much of the outdoor portion of the original property was covered in asphalt. LILA sought a way to provide a more ideal outdoor environment for its students and TreePeople offered an optimal solution. The environmental nonprofit is working actively to grow a sustainable future for Los Angeles by inspiring, engaging, and supporting people to take personal responsibility for the urban environment, making it safe, healthy, fun, and green, and to share the process as a model for the world.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with TreePeople,” said Anneli Harvey, Director of LILA’s Burbank campus. “It is going to be immensely satisfying to break up our expanse of asphalt and to plant trees so that nature can truly heal the city.” According to TreePeople, 90 percent of L.A.’s school grounds are covered by asphalt and the lack of trees is not only non-conducive to learning, it contributes to a host of environmental problems that can have profound health consequences. By greening its latest campus, LILA seeks to continue an inspiring and joyful school experience for its secondary students who are accustomed to the more environmentally friendly elementary campuses that the school operates in Los Feliz, Pasadena, Tarzana, and Orange County.
