MiKayla Chiles Digs Into Tree Planting

2017 May 1

MiKayla Chiles, Salina, KS, joined six other Kansas Wesleyan students in picking up shovels Friday, April 28, and helping the City of Salina celebrate Kansas Arbor Day.

Steve Blue, city forester, lead the planting of a crabapple tree on the KWU campus. He gave tips on tree planting for a small crowd as the students dug a hole, placed the tree, filled the hole and added mulch. Students helping with the planting were biology majors Tanner Ranieri, of Seneca, KS; Josiah Smith, of Beloit, KS; Betzabeth Garcia, Arvada, KS; MiKayla Chiles, of Salina; Dylan Boyd, of Harveyville, KS; and Katie Hernandez, of Beaumont, CA; and Ecospheric Studies and Community Resilience major Diego Sanchez, of Shawnee Mission, KS.

"We know that we have about 9,000 street tree in Salina," Blue explained "Probably about 15 years ago we had about 14,000 street trees in Salina. So how do you fix that? You push tree planting."

Salina was recognized as a Tree City USA Community for the 27th consecutive year.