To: Ms.

Alice Estrada, Executive Director

CC: Professor Holden

From: Mary Wight

Re: Program Proposal: Tree Planting Educational Course Program

The Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park provides outstanding education and resources about

the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay ecology and Annapolis maritime history. There are many

programs that our education campus provide for students in Pre-K to 12th grade to further the

museum’s mission of environmental awareness. In this memo, I am proposing that we implement

a program that runs from April-May, which allows fifth graders from 14 surrounding Annapolis

public elementary schools to attend a one-day educational tree-planting field trip at the

designated locations of Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Problem Overview

The Chesapeake Bay’s environmental condition has been steadily declining due to overfishing

and pollution – being named one of the “dirtiest waters,” according to the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA).1 Many organizations have stepped in to help restore the bay’s water

quality and living resources but there is much more work to be done. There is an overabundance

of nitrogen and phosphorus from humans that transfer from the land and air to the water,

polluting the bay.

1
The History of Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Efforts. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from
http://www.cbf.org/how-we-save-the-bay/chesapeake-clean-water-blueprint/the-history-of-bay-
cleanup-efforts.html

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Since 1983, the EPA recognized the need for restoration efforts and signed an agreement

requiring the surrounding states of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to step in and help revive the

200-mile stretch of the Chesapeake Bay. Since this agreement has been signed, water quality has

slowly been improving but a systems approach for all the states to get together to achieve a

similar restoration strategy would be ideal for much faster results. The current goal set for 2025

is to restore the Bay’s water quality so that it can be removed from the list of dirtiest waters.1

There are many ways to help restore the Chesapeake Bay and planting native trees along the

streams and rivers is one of them. The main source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay is the

dirty runoff from urban and suburban communities nearby; rain causes all of the pollution to

flow from communities to the water. Tree restoration reduces this pollution, provides habitat for

wildlife, keeps rivers cool through the summer, and prevents erosion of stream banks. Trees act

as a natural solution by filtering and slowing pollution in water before it reaches the Chesapeake

Bay.2

Best Practices

The Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center has a Native Growers program that targets high

school Alternate Curriculum class students from Anne Arundel County public high schools and

educates them on how to restore the Chesapeake Bay through planting trees. The campus is a 24-

acre property, located on the Severn River watershed tributary of the Chesapeake Bay that

provides outdoor education to AACPS students and teachers as part of the AACPS literacy

curriculum. Students learn about the importance of native plants and their relationships to native

animals, while enacting in hands-on activities of watering, growing, and treating plants.3 These

plants help the goals of the Chesapeake Connections restoration projects reach their goals. This
2
Clean Water Advocacy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2018, from https://potomac.org/advocacy/

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program directly correlates with the goals of the Annapolis Maritime Museum in its efforts to

educate youth and adults on the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay.

State of Expertise and Resources

As an intern, I know that we already have a Chesapeake Champions program targeting second

grade students from Annapolis elementary schools that allow them to grow grass in their

classrooms and go on field trips to plant the grass around the park at Annapolis Maritime

Museum. This concept is similar to the proposed program but can be expanded to planting trees

that will be beneficial for the Chesapeake Bay and the learning experience that students can gain.

This program would contribute to the overall mission with little additional cost due to the

abundant current resources and partnerships we have.

We are currently partnered with Arlington Echo, which can contribute to the resources and

expertise necessary for the proposed program to run. Since Arlington Echo already has a Native

Growers program that involves planting trees, they have trained experts to teach students how to

plant trees, along with the benefits. They also have gloves, compost, watering pots, and shovels

to provide the students. Another partnership to consider is the Chesapeake Bay Foundation since

they have a vast acreage of property to plant trees, and they currently welcome volunteers to

plant native trees by the Chesapeake Bay.

Program Elements

3
Tucker, L. A. (n.d.). Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center - Native Growers. Retrieved
March 19, 2018, from https://www.arlingtonecho.org/programs/native-growers.html

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The program will target fifth grade classes from every Annapolis public elementary school to

participate in the tree-planting field trip and learn the value and maritime history of the

Chesapeake Bay. Each student will sign a field trip slip by their parent or guardian and when the

day comes, go with their entire fifth grade class to a designated location of the Chesapeake Bay

Foundation. School buses will transport them from their normal operating school class time and

transport them back to school at the end of a normal school day for parents to pick them up.

When students arrive at their designated property of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

organization for the field trip, they will sit down and listen to a short welcome by the Annapolis

Maritime Museum & Park education staff. Then they will listen to the Arlington Echo staff talk

about the benefits of planting trees for the Chesapeake Bay and explain the process of tree

planting. The students will get in line for their materials to get started and plant trees. They’ll

take a lunch picnic outside and listen to more educational information about the Chesapeake Bay.

Once the day is over, the students will get brochures and information about the Annapolis

Maritime Museum & Park, along with tree seeds of their own to plant at home.

Implementation Process or Timeline

The program will be 12 weeks long in duration from April – May of the school year. The first

step of implementation would be partnering with Arlington Echo to ensure that the students

could get the tools for planting, such as gloves, shovels, and watering pots. Another partner to

consider for the location of tree planting would be the Chesapeake Bay Foundation since they

already have volunteer programs to plant trees; having elementary students plant trees on the

Chesapeake Bay shores would be appropriate for their organization’s mission. The next step

would be the design of the curriculum, and the learning assignment that the fifth graders would

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complete after the program, and the field trip’s schedule. The third step would be to get all the

materials necessary, such as tree seeds, so that each fifth grade class in Annapolis would have

everything they need for the planting process. The last step would be to recruit all the Annapolis

elementary schools to participate in the program. Each school would have their own set day

scheduled where the whole fifth grade class would come to Back Creek Nature Park and

participate in the program.

Budget

The initial budget includes a rough estimate of all the expenses the program will include to

successfully run. Assuming all 14 Annapolis elementary schools want to participate, all estimates

are based on accommodating around 1,246 fifth grade students for the 12-week program. Each

fifth grade class was averaged to contain roughly 89 students in 2018, according to an enrollment

chart on aacps.org.4 According to the John S. Ayton State Forest Tree Nursery, each native tree

seed of the Chesapeake Bay costs around $1. When I spoke to our Education Director, Sarah

Krizek, it was confirmed that buses would cost $350 each for the whole day. The materials for

the tree-planting field trip can easily be acquired from Arlington Echo since they have a similar

Native Growers program. Overall, the mulch, tree seeds, and buses would be the only expenses

for this program to run. The staff to run this program would consist of our current volunteers for

the museum and three Arlington Echo staff that are experts in tree planting.

Item Quantity Cost Subtotal

4
Class estimates gathered online at https://www.aacps.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?
moduleinstanceid=3584&dataid=12684&FileName=05%20-%20Arundel%20Feeder.pdf

5
Native tree seeds (for 2,492 $1 per seed5 $2,492

planting and for

students to take home)

Materials (gloves, 89 $0 (donated from $0

shovels, watering pots) Arlington Echo current

Native Growers

program)

Mulch 100 $20.99 per cubic yard6 $2,099

Transportation (school 2 buses (one bus $350 (this source came $700

buses) accommodates a from the Education

maximum of 72 Director, Sarah

students but this is not Krizek)

recommended for

safety reasons)7

Volunteers 2 $0 (volunteers are $0

unpaid at the

Annapolis Maritime

Museum & Park)

Arlington Echo staff 3 $0 (Arlington Echo $0

will pay their staff

5
Price gathered online at http://nursery.dnr.maryland.gov/category-s/1821.htm
6
Price gathered from Saudeners Landscape Supply online at
https://www.saundersls.com/products/mulch/double-shredded-hardwood-mulch/
7
Bus capacity and safety regulation gathered online at https://www.schoolbusinfo.com/faq.asp

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 members)

Total: $5,291

Methods for Evaluation

Here are suggestions to evaluate the success of the program:

 Measure the number of trees planted
 Measure the acres of land used
 Hand out an assignment of questions about the Chesapeake Bay and benefits of tree

planting after the program to evaluate students’ learning experience

Conclusion
This program would further accomplish our mission of educating people about maritime

history, and preserving the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. Planting trees is vital to prevent

the pollution of the Bay, as well as the overall environment. Many organizations are

interested in preserving the Bay, so a range of community partners are available to help the

cause. As you can see, the program would be low-cost and fairly easy to run.