Westside High School recently received a private donation to update the landscaping around the high school’s campus. Groundskeeper Todd Petri and Facilities Manager Virgil Coleman are currently in the process of planting 24 trees at various complexes around the campus.

“[Westside] had a private donor donate some money to do some upgrades in our landscaping around [the high school],” Coleman said. “12 of the 24 trees have been planted and the rest are expected to be done by the end of next week.”

Student Officer of Westside’s environmental club, Warrior Planet, senior Ethan Yaroch, said that he thinks planting the new trees throughout the campus was a good idea.

“[Planting] more trees is great for the environment,” Yaroch said. “Plus they look good.”

Petri said that there are three main types of trees currently being planted, and that they will replace dying trees later this school year.

“Most [of the trees we planted] were pine trees, big blues, and maples,” Petri said. “In the spring, we’ll take down some dying trees [from other parts of campus] and replace them.” 

Petri said that the weather provides an optimal environment for the growth of the new trees and said that they are being well taken care of.

“This weather has been great,” Petri said. “This has been a great time to plant and we’ve been [watering the trees] well.”