POSTED: March 27th 2010
InDepth
WOA contributes Olympians' sporting flavour to the Kids4Trees message
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
MALIBU: The connection between sport and the environment has been planted – literally - by children aged between six and 12 in Malibu, California, by the Kids4Trees Program and the World Olympians Association.
Some 300 children at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School were divided into three workshops. These featured sessions in which California Olympians talked about the importance of sport and the environment, followed by an interactive lesson about the importance of trees and how to plant them properly.
The primary goal of the program is to create young stewards of the forest by educating and empowering elementary school students to contribute towards solutions for environmental concerns in their communities. Festivities included tree songs from the Kids4Trees CD, children’s singers, and tree information kits.
Reynaldo Brown, who competed in the 1968 Olympics in the high jump, spoke on the importance of setting goals, advising: “You need to start now setting goals for yourself and taking care of the world around you.”
Chasing dreams
Chris Soule, a skeleton competitor in Salt Lake City and Torino, talked about overcoming obstacles while chasing dreams and Tracy Mattes, director of global programs for the WOA, described the values of Olympism and how children can be powerful agents of change in environmental causes.
WOA participates in the Kids4Trees program in North America and Africa and encourages extending the message to parents, families and friends.
Steve Redner, executive director of Kids4Trees, said: “We are most pleased by the successful Malibu Elementary School program, proving that Kids4Trees is equally adaptable to urban school planting events as within the US National Forests. We are confident that Kids4Trees, along with the participation of Olympians from the WOA, will be welcome throughout the world.”
The next tree plantings scheduled for Southern California will include Los Padres National Forest on April 9-10 and Juan Cabrillo Elementary school on April 16. The spring schedule will involve 15,000 students and Scouts and see more than 30,000 trees planted.
Now in planning for the 2011 United Nations Year of the Forests is a WOA/Kids4Trees program which will circle the globe throughout the year.
Keywords · Kids4Trees Program · World Olympians Association · Reynoldo Brown · Chris Soule · Tracy Mattes · Redner · United Nations Year of the Forests
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
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