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APS Celebrating Arbor Day By Visiting Local Schools
Phoenix, AZ - APS employees specializing in the care and maintenance of trees are heading into Valley classrooms to help educate fifth-graders about the importance of Arbor Day and the value of planting trees. On Friday, April 25, more than 25 students from Alfred F. Garcia Elementary School (located at 27th Avenue and Buckeye Road), Mountain View Elementary School (19th Avenue and Peoria) and Kyrene De La Esperanza (41st Place and Ray Road) will get a chance to break ground and plant a tree at their school with APS arborists. "By teaching kids the value of planting trees, they are not just celebrating the spirit of Arbor Day, but they are helping the environment and combating climate change since trees consume harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce beneficial oxygen," said Mike Neal, APS' Manager of Forestry and Special Programs. In addition, Neal said educating the students on planting the right tree in the right spot goes way beyond a fifth-grade lesson. It is part of an ongoing APS initiative encouraging customers to plant trees to shade their homes and lower energy bills, and to avoid planting trees that grow into power lines. "These simple guidelines improve the tree's quality of life, and benefit customers by providing shade, promoting comfort, and reducing energy costs and tree-related power outages." Celebrated on the last Friday of April, Arbor Day is an annual holiday that encourages the planting and caring of trees. APS is visiting valley schools to help kids understand and appreciate the significance of the holiday, while using a hands-on learning approach. Starting with a friendly competition, APS challenged 30 students from each school to create their own Arbor Day poster, with the top three receiving prizes. APS also will present a history of Arbor Day, to be followed by the tree-planting ceremony. For the past two months, APS has encouraged its customers to "Go Paperless, Save a Tree" by canceling their paper bill and receiving an electronic version instead. Now, in addition to saving trees by reducing paper, APS is encouraging customers to plant a new one. "At APS, we don't just want our customers to Go Paperless to save trees," said Kelley Ryan, customer programs and department leader at APS, "we also want them to plant and care for the trees that are providing shade in this hot desert climate." APS, Arizona's largest and longest-serving electric utility, serves about 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state's 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW). Contact:
Maria Arellano |
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