By Glore Ruiz
“When it’s warm, everyone comes to hang out under the redbud tree.”
“Shade is a really important thing,” Karen Norman told me when I first visited Mason Elementary in early March 2022. Twelve years ago there wasn’t any shade at this school and the classrooms along the south facing wall were getting blasted by the sun. Karen’s husband works for Missouri Botanical Garden and is into sustainability, so naturally Karen, an art teacher at Mason for 24 years, decided to take matters into her own hands. She found out that the school could get free trees through Forest ReLeaf. She ordered 6 trees and 12 shrubs, and she knew she would be planting the majority of them along that south facing wall. There was only one voice of resistance to planting the new trees, Karen recalled. The PE teacher wanted space on the lawn for PE and Karen matter-of-factly informed that teacher to “play around the trees”.
Despite her success to win over the PE teacher, Mrs. Norman admitted that keeping the kids from banging on and destroying the trees before they fully established was the hardest part about the tree planting. Still, it didn’t deter her from ordering more trees for a second planting a few years later. Now all the trees are established. Next to the blacktop which doubles as a playground stands a very large, very established redbud in the small courtyard. “When it’s warm, everyone comes to hang out under the redbud tree like you wouldn’t believe,” Karen proudly stated. Teachers today benefit from the trees by taking students on nature walks right on the school grounds. And although there is currently no science teacher, when there was, he would do tree identification with the students.
For twelve years, Forest ReLeaf trees have been positively impacting students at Mason Elementary. And in 2019, they had the opportunity to impact many more. “We had our 100th anniversary and when alumni came back to visit they were like ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t remember that!’ These trees are just beautiful.”
“Imagine the kids in your congregation growing up learning all the native plants in your area and how to take care of them, and being able to experience the divine in nature,” says Christopher Grundy.
Since 1999, the Ferguson Volunteer Flower Department has been caring for two gardens in downtown Ferguson.
With Forest ReLeaf’s help, Park Commissioner Peg Crockett is adding more trees to Hunter Park, giving the local community more opportunities for play and leisure.
I am Elijah Belz, the Field Operations Coordinator for Forest ReLeaf. I am a certified arborist and the primary person in the field for Forest ReLeaf, maintaining roughly 1000 trees planted in the St. Louis City, and maintaining our equipment our equipment used to maintain our trees! This job is a catch-all position that carries different responsibilities during the different seasons. Fall and spring are our planting, tree delivery, and inventory season; winter is our pruning, mulching, and planning season; summer is our watering season where we lead a crew of interns getting into the green industry.
My background is bicycle repair! I was in that industry for almost a decade, including running a bicycle repair shop, before taking a job with a tree planting organization in Atlanta. From there I moved to an edible landscape company. I became certified as an arborist while working at Forest ReLeaf this February! Trees rock, bikes are cool too.
De’Nonna Jones graduated from Knox College in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, driven by a commitment to environmental justice and community-based conservation. Since then, she has gained hands-on experience working across a range of green spaces throughout the St. Louis region, focusing on the care, restoration, and accessibility of urban natural areas. She began her journey at Tower Grove Park, where she developed a deep appreciation for public green spaces as vital community resources, before moving into a stewardship role with the Missouri Botanical Garden in partnership with Great Rivers Greenway. She now serves as the Stewardship Crew Coordinator at Forest ReLeaf. De’Nonna is passionate about creating inclusive pathways into environmental work and empowering tree lovers and emerging conservationists to see themselves as stewards of their communities. Through her work, she strives to strengthen connections between people, trees, and places in urban environments.
After 17 years in the non-profit and public sector, Jess remains committed to mission-driven work that tackles the challenges facing our communities. Their career began with a year of service as an Americorps St. Louis Emergency Response team member, responding to natural disasters and performing conservation projects. That foundation of service led to roles supporting the arts, affordable housing, mental health, and grassroots housing advocacy in St. Louis. During this journey Jess has worked to center the value “nothing about us, without us.” They do their best to ensure that the voices of people who have been marginalized guide the strategy and execution of work that honors their lived experiences. When they aren’t working, Jess is out paddling, hiking, working in their garden, or building something.
