‘TNT’ Program Expands District Tree Canopy
'TNT' Program Expands District Tree Canopy
Students across Lincoln Public Schools got their hands dirty this October, planting trees and learning about environmental stewardship thanks to a partnership with PlantNebraska, formerly known as the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.
LPS received 10 trees through the Trees for Nebraska Towns program. The program focuses on community plantings with a direct public benefit and seeks to increase the size and resilience of Nebraska’s community forests.
Prior to each planting, the LPS Grounds Department dug holes and set up supplies for students to use.
At Brownell Elementary, 4th graders in the STEAM Class planted a ginkgo tree in early October. Assistant Grounds Superintendent Troy Gold demonstrated each step, allowing students to both document the process and perform the planting.
Around the same time, the Prickly Planet Protectors Club at Holmes Elementary planted two catalpa trees next to their school garden. Club members worked together to make sure all of the soil and mulch around each tree formed a perfect circle.
Later in the month, students at Lefler Middle School stuck around after school to help plant the site’s four new trees: two Schuette’s oaks and two sycamores. Most of the student volunteers said that the afternoon marked the first time they had ever planted a tree!
Wysong Elementary School’s student council convenes once a month before school, and used their morning meeting this October to plant three trees on their school campus. Wysong is now home to a gingko tree named Goldie, a bur oak named Billy and a cypress named Iris.
In addition to the hands-on component, each school received care instructions and a fact sheet about the species they planted. The ten trees will provide shade, wildlife habitat and continued educational opportunities for years to come!
Interested in learning more? Check out these additional tree resources:
- LPS Tree Dashboard: Explore the district tree canopy by school or by tree species.
- PlantNebraska Community Forest videos: Learn the basics of about community forests and their impacts.
- PlantNebraska speaker request: Dive into a variety of topics from expert local speakers! Presentations are available to schools, student clubs, workshops and more.
Electric Buses Hit the Road at LPS
Electric Buses Hit the Road at LPS
LPS students have a new way to get around town this year: the district’s first all-electric school buses! The buses are now running routes across LPS, providing many students with a safe, reliable and energy-efficient ride to school.
LPS received $815,000 through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program in 2024. The funds allowed the district to replace three older school buses with fully electric ones in the latest step towards a more sustainable transportation system.
To better understand day-to-day operations on the road, we sat down with two school bus drivers who have used the electric buses on their routes this year.
Greg Wright has been driving school buses at LPS for eight years, and started driving electric as a pilot tester for the new buses. So far, he hasn’t come across any downsides to making the switch to electric.
“There’s nothing about my daily existence in this job that is worse because of it. There are some things that are better,” he said.
Wright noted that, in particular, the electric buses have proven more consistent and reliable compared to the diesel models he used to drive.
“I’ve had very, very few issues, and nothing that mandated that I needed to switch buses for the day,” he said. “That’s kind of a big deal for me.”
Fellow bus driver Dan Smith echoed Wright’s thoughts on the electric buses’ dependability, even on a single or partial charge.
“I can do my route — the whole route — in one charge,” Smith said. “[It’s] better than going over the gas pump three or four times a week, which is a pain.”
Smith has served as an LPS bus driver for five years, and started driving electric after it was recommended to him when his previous bus broke down.
This ability to charge each electric bus at its own dedicated station has also emerged as a significant advantage.
“It can’t be overstated how great it is that we don’t have to deal with the gas pumps at all,” Wright said.
"I swipe my card, plug it in and go."
LPS students also benefit from the electric buses, which are much quieter and produce no tailpipe emissions. Smith said that many of the students he drives each day have also been excited about riding in the new buses, and that teachers and paras have reacted positively so far, too.
“It’s pretty cool, you know, they’re glad to see LPS is actually thinking forward,” he said.
The electric buses have provided a comfortable, efficient, and sustainable experience for both students and drivers alike. We are excited to see these buses continue to provide environmentally friendly transportation for students for the rest of this year and many more to come!
Adams Elementary Students Plant 50 Trees
Adams Elementary Students Plant 50 Trees
Folsom Park and Adams Elementary are now home to a collective 50 new trees thanks to a group of budding arborists at Adams Elementary School. Fourth graders teamed up with Lincoln Parks and Recreation, the Arbor Day Foundation, student volunteers from Northeast High School, and our very own sustainability team to plant trees around Folsom Park and their school campus on October 8th.
Before students began planting, they learned the steps to properly plant a tree. Lincoln Parks and Recreation staff demonstrated how to:
1. Break up the root ball at the base of the tree to help the tree expand its roots and grow strong.
2. Check the depth of the hole so the tree is planted at ground level. (If the hole is too deep, add some more soil and perform the “dirt dance” until it’s flat!)
3. Place the tree and fill in the gaps with soil.
4. Surround the tree with mulch to prevent weeds and over-mowing
5. Name the tree!
After the students completed these steps, taking the occasional dance break along the way, Parks and Recreation stabilized the trees with wooden stakes and watered all the trees across the park.
After the demonstration, students got to work digging, planting, mulching, and, of course, dancing! Through their hard work, the 4th graders at Adams planted a total of 40 trees around Folsom Park and 10 trees on their school campus, getting down in the dirt to take part in every step of the process. The students enthusiastically shoveled dirt, spread mulch, and named their trees a variety of trendy, goofy, and tree-related names.
The names of the newly planted trees range from “Meatball” to “Jimmy Jr.” to “Leaficus” and “Woody”. These newly planted and named trees, thanks to the efforts of the students, will grow for years to come, providing shade and cleaner air for many generations of students and community members.
The Arbor Day Foundation provided gloves for each student, as well as the 10 trees planted on school grounds. Each of these new plantings will contribute to the growing number of trees in the LPS tree canopy. The tree canopy provides students with places to sit, beautiful scenery, and a healthier environment.
The newly planted trees, and many more, are mapped and recorded on our Tree Dashboard! The dashboard can be used to find the locations, species, and information about trees all across LPS.
LPS couldn’t be more grateful for all of the hard work of the Adams Elementary students and staff, and the amazing volunteers and community partners who made this planting possible.
Images courtesy of Arbor Day Foundation
Click here to view all photos.
Sustainability Spotlight: Andrew Seuferer at Holmes Elementary School
October’s Sustainability Spotlight is shining on Andrew Seuferer, the music teacher at Holmes Elementary School! Seuferer has been an educator at LPS for 8 years and just last year picked up the role of Sustainability Champion. He quickly became one of our most passionate and impressive champions, leading his school to the largest ever Green Schools Recognition Program point total to date.
His motivation? Getting students engaged with the environment.
During the 2024-25 school year, Seuferer started an environmental club called The Prickly Planet Protectors (PPP) and invited students in 3rd-5th grades to learn about and interact with the natural environment. The club began with only four students but quickly grew to 30 within just a few weeks. Seuferer attributes this growth to the students’ passion and excitement.
“It became something that was cool,” he said.
The Prickly Planet Protectors’ activities focus on both active and artistic projects. Seuferer emphasizes the importance of getting students physically involved with the environment. In the 2024-25 year, students read books from the Climate Action Bookshelf and made corresponding posters, created art with trees across their campus, took a field trip to the Arbor Day Farm, and grew fruits, flowers, and vegetables in their garden!
Seuferer maintains the importance of starting with simple and small sustainable activities to “get the fun going” for the students.
“There are so many resources out there,” he explains, “I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel.”
He specifically cites resources from the National Forest Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as places to start. Activities listed in the Green Schools Recognition Program and EcoSchools U.S. have benefited the club as well, allowing students to set goals and decide which activities they complete each year. Seuferer said that pursuing and recognizing easy wins along the way help motivate the students on the way to achieving their broader goals.
Substantial student engagement in the process of submitting activities to different organizations and programs has become a key focus of the club. Members of the Prickly Planet Protectors meet with building administrators, promote fundraising drives and take part in hands-on experiences.
This approach has helped Seuferer lead the club to some impressive achievements in their first year. In addition to earning the top funding award through the Green Schools Recognition Program, Holmes joined the ranks of the district’s Tree Campus K-12 awardees and became the first LPS site to reach EcoSchools Green Flag certification!
He hopes that being involved in environmental advocacy and sustainability from all angles will give the students real-world connections and keep them motivated and involved as they get older.
I hope that one of the things that they can carry with them would be to get outside and to put the screens down ... If they can take that with them as they start to develop their own opinions about things, I hope that more people start to care.
With a Bike and Garden Night already under their belt for the 2025-26 school year, an upcoming tree planting, and a variety of other sustainability activities planned, we are beyond proud of the sustainability efforts taking place at Holmes. We are excited to see how Seuferer continues to lead the Prickly Planet Protectors and support the entire Holmes Elementary School community!
Southeast, Robinson, Holmes Honored with Tree Campus K-12 Distinction
LPS Sustainability is proud to announce that Robinson Elementary School, Southeast High School, and Holmes Elementary School all received Tree Campus K-12 recognition for the 2024-25 school year! They join Northeast High School and Kahoa Elementary School as the only schools in the district to earn this distinction through the Arbor Day Foundation to date.
To earn Tree Campus K-12 recognition, each school met four goals:
- Maintain a Tree Campus team dedicated to achieving recognition
- Create an education plan that connects students to trees and their global benefits
- Offer a hands-on experience that engages students with trees and the community
- Hold an Arbor Day observance to celebrate trees within the school or the community
Tree Campus K-12 recognition can be earned in a variety of ways. The three schools that received the recognition — Robinson, Southeast, and Holmes — all took different approaches to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to tree-based learning.
Robinson Elementary went the route of planting trees in their community. Fourth and fifth grade classes worked with community volunteers to plant 50 trees in Lincoln’s Waterford Park to commemorate Arbor Day 2025. In addition to the planting day, students at Robinson participated in a variety of tree-related activities, including playing the Park Masters board game and learning about the history of Arbor Day.
At Southeast High School, students planted trees on school grounds to bring more greenery to the campus. The effort was lead by Clio Baird, the Vice President of LSE Key Club, who, along with other club members, fundraised for the four trees planted around the campus. This entirely student-led effort demonstrates their strong commitment to the environment and sustainability.
Holmes Elementary was the first to earn their Tree Campus Recognition almost entirely within the classroom. Their sustainability club, the Prickly Planet Protectors, watched the documentary “Beyond Trees,” identified tree species across their campus, toured the Arbor Day Farm on a field trip, and created tree poems and artwork. Holmes staff also created tree-focused lessons and slides for each grade level. Their enthusiastic participation in these activities earned them Tree Campus Recognition!
Tree planting and classroom campaigns are just some of many hands-on experiences schools can carry out in their pursuit of Tree Campus K-12 recognition. For more information, visit the Arbor Day Foundation’s website or reach out to the Sustainability Team.
Congratulations to Robinson Elementary, Southeast High School, and Holmes Elementary on achieving this exciting honor!
Sustainability Spotlight: Kwame Gyamfi at Northeast High School
This month’s Sustainability Spotlight is shining on Kwame Gyamfi at Northeast High School! Gyamfi serves as the CLC School Community Coordinator for Northeast High School where he provides students with the opportunity to build a positive environment where they can explore interests, learn new skills, and build community. As a part of this program, Gyamfi manages the Future Harvest Project which focuses on food and garden related activities.
The Future Harvest Project emphasizes student participation in the food systems of their communities. A core part of this project is the FEWSS garden club where students participate in planning, planting, harvesting, and maintaining the Northeast garden. Gyamfi describes the club as a place for students to learn how to solve problems and take part in active hands-on learning. He feels that it is important for students to be in charge of their projects and lets the students take the lead on every part of the gardening process. Gyamfi hopes that having room to learn and make mistakes will inspire the students to learn more deeply and enthusiastically, building problem solving and storytelling skills they can bring into their lives beyond high school.
"I think kids want to be inspired. I think that they're very savvy nowadays. So with the ability to access information at a much faster rate than in previous times, students don't need you to sit there and try to give them what they can get, they need to be inspired."
Beyond growing food, the garden club has shown measurable improvements in students’ happiness and well-being. A survey asking students to rank how they feel on a scale of 1-5 showed an average of a 20% improvement in student happiness due to the garden club. The garden club not only gets students involved and gardening, but improves their mood and produces a positive impact on mental health.
"We understand that once they may be stressed out, but once they get their hands in the dirt, once they get to enjoying that and let go of whatever it is, it typically benefits the students."
The club operates on a goal-based system, with their target at the end of the year to be selling and giving away their produce as salsa, canned food, or just as is. The students get to take part in planting hydroponics systems indoors, their garden areas outdoors, and they get to take part in the creation of salsa and are working towards canning their produce for other students and their community! Gyamfi emphasizes how the garden is for the community around the school as well. He encourages students and people in the community to come to the garden and take the produce that they want, whether it be watermelons, tomatoes, or even pumpkins!
The FEWSS garden club and the Future Garden Project serve as more than just an activity to fill up time, Gyamfi explained, they represent a legacy.
“It’s just planting seeds, and then so that, as they get older, maybe one of those seeds you planted germinates and grows and turns into something. To me, that’s legacy.”
The Future Harvest Project is a project filled with hope for a better future, stronger and healthier communities, and a legacy that will keep generations of students inspired. Gyamfi’s work in this program, and all others that he has been involved in, has been invaluable in how much it has improved the lives of students, staff, and the local community. We appreciate the support and efforts that many of our CLC School Community Coordinators provide to students across LPS.
Sustainability Spotlight: Sustainability Team Interns
Two new excited faces have joined LPS Sustainability this summer! We have asked each of our interns, both new and old, to share a little bit about themselves, their goals within the Sustainability Team and where they’re headed.
Adrianna Zeljko: Gardens and Outdoor Learning
Adrianna Zeljko joined the LPS Sustainability team in May 2025. Zeljko is a senior at UNL pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a major in environmental science and minors in water science and fisheries & wildlife. Through her role, Zeljko’s goal is to support and grow sustainable practices across Lincoln Public Schools.
“I love the idea of fostering sustainability practices in the younger generation,” Zeljko said. “I think young people have lots of potential to make a difference.”
In her role as the Gardens and Outdoor Learning Intern, Zeljko supports the maintenance and establishment of gardens at LPS sites, assists with the Farm to School grant and organizes garden gatherings. Recently, Zeljko has been working to create and update maps with the locations of gardens and outdoor learning spaces across LPS.
“It’s important to have a resource that people from our community can easily access to get an overview of gardens at their local school,” she said.
As Zeljko works with garden mapping, she emphasized how simply knowing the locations and success of other gardens can help facilitate new gardens at schools across the district.
After graduation, Zeljko hopes to work locally in the natural resources field, promoting sustainability through policy, maintenance and community.
“I would love to work for a government department or organization that maintains our water, soil, energy, or wildlife. However, I am open to exploring any opportunities that come my way!”
Itai Trainin: Outreach and Engagement
Itai Trainin became a member of the LPS Sustainability team in May 2025. He is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in political science and environmental and sustainability studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Trainin said that he is most excited about working with the Lincoln Public Schools’ community.
“I am very excited to work on outreach events and communicating with parents, staff and students directly. I love being on the ground for events like Bike to School Day or during other school- and club-hosted sustainability events!”
Trainin has worked on a variety of communications-based projects over the summer, including the creation of social media posts, written content and advertising for sustainability events. He feels that the importance of his work comes through connecting students, staff and parents to sustainable efforts across LPS.
“Almost all people will interact with K-12 education at some point in their lives. Sustainability in education provides a great opportunity for making real and substantial change from the ground up!”
He is currently working on creating stronger communication between LPS clubs and a system for stronger connection to the local community in sustainable ventures. Trainin hopes to inspire action throughout schools and local communities.
“Getting information about Lincoln Public Schools’ sustainable initiatives out to the people who are interested and local communities will hopefully inspire new and long lasting sustainable actions!”
After graduation, Trainin plans on pursuing a Juris Doctor (JD), with hopes to work in environmental policy and law.
“Policy is an area where environmental causes face a difficult challenge. I would like to help remove those barriers and make substantial changes to policy surrounding the environment and sustainability.”
Katie Berck: Gardens and Outdoor Learning
Katie Berck joined the LPS Sustainability team in February 2024. She graduated in May from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in in environmental studies and a minor in fisheries and wildlife. Berck said she first learned about LPS Sustainability’s work through her classes at UNL.
“I always thought it sounded like a great environment to work in, and I was right!” she said.
Berck supports school gardens and outdoor classrooms around the district by collaborating with LPS staff, students and community partners. Lately, she has been busy mapping trees across the district and working to build a tree inventory for all schools.
“I’ve been really enjoying working on mapping all of the schools and putting together a sustainability dashboard for the district,” she said. “It will be such a great tool for both schools and the greater community.”
Berck is still exploring the career field in sustainability with hopes to pursue a career in environmental engagement and outdoor education, as well as fostering rescue cats.
We’re so excited to have such a wide range of interests and expertise on the Sustainability Team! If any of our interns could assist in your classroom, club or event, please feel free to reach out to us at sustainability@lps.org.
24th Annual Cans4Books Drive
The results are in for the 24th annual Cans4Books Recycling Drive. Thank you to all of the students, staff, friends and neighbors that participated!
We added up your school and public donations and they totaled $1,032.50. Our amazing recycling partner, Green Quest Recycling, donated an additional $500 in funding and prizes for 1st and 2nd place! SouthPointe Barnes & Noble rounded everyone’s gift cards up to the next $5 increment and covered the 3rd place prize.
All together, the Cans4Books drive generated $1,615 for school libraries. We are so grateful for our community partners that make this program possible every year! We are excited for more books to be on school library bookshelves thanks to school communities recycling over 47,000 cans!
Congratulations to our top schools (pounds recycled per student) and prize winners:
First Place – Saratoga Elementary
472 pounds of cans recycled $425 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Includes additional $75 prize
2nd Place – Huntington Elementary
208 pounds of cans recycled, $215 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Includes additional $50 prize
3rd Place – Clinton Elementary
179 pounds of cans recycled, $170 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Includes additional $25 prize
Other participating schools who will also be receiving gift cards include: Beattie, Everett, Maxey, Saratoga, and Sheridan elementaries, and Park Middle School.
The Cans4Books program has reached over $49,000 donated to school libraries for the purchase of books since 2001. Over 98,500 pounds of aluminum cans have been recycled over the lifetime of the program.
Thank you to our contributing sponsors: Green Quest Recycling and SouthPointe Barnes & Noble Bookstore!
2024-25 Green Schools Recognition Program Results
The Green Schools Recognition Program just wrapped up its ninth year! Through this program, schools choose and complete a variety of earth-friendly activities throughout the school year. These activities earn the school points towards Green, Greener and Greenest levels of achievement, plus corresponding funding rewards for future sustainability projects.
23 schools submitted their activities from 2024-25, with over 300 activities reported across the district! LPS staff, students, families and community partners spent time in gardens, read from the Climate Action Bookshelf, celebrated Earth Day and more! All of these activities empower students to understand their role in environmental stewardship as they work together to take action.
Congratulations to this year's funding award winners!
Green:
- East High School:
Earned 95 points, receives $50 - Southeast High School:
Earned 95 points, receives $50 - Southwest High School:
Earned 75 points, receives $50
Greener:
- Beattie Elementary:
Earned 175 points, receives $100 - Lincoln High School:
Earned 160 points, receives $100 - Lux Middle School:
Earned 135 points, receives $100
Greenest:
- Eastridge Elementary:
Earned 280 points, receives $200 - Kloefkorn Elementary:
Earned 240 points, receives $200 - Norwood Park Elementary:
Earned 215 points, receives $200 - Sheridan Elementary:
Earned 215 points, receives $200
Top Elementary & Secondary:
- Holmes Elementary:
Earned 650 points, receives $500 as top earning elementary school - Mickle Middle:
Earned 225 points, receives $500 as top earning secondary school
2024-25 Points Totals
A huge thank you to all the schools who participated this school year, and congratulations to our funding award recipients! We can’t wait to see what you have in store for 2025-26!
Safety and Sustainability at Elliott Elementary Bike to School Day
Keeping students on the right path was a key goal of Elliott Elementary School’s Bike to School Day event on May 16th. The event, coordinated by Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster County (SKLLC), focused on encouraging students in grades K-5 to practice safer, healthier, and more environmentally friendly transportation on their paths to and from school.
SKLLC, as part of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, has coordinated Bike to School events almost every year for the last 20 years, including an event at Clinton Elementary School last year. These local celebrations also align with national events led by the National Center for Safe Routes to School.
Supported by Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU) and Black Hills Energy, Elliott Elementary staff and volunteers set up activity stations around the school encouraging students to practice safety in four key areas while walking and biking:
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Trail Etiquette & Physical Activity
Billy Wolff Trail crosses right by Elliott Elementary, meaning many of the students use and cross the trail. This station encouraged students to be physically active and use the trail, but to do so safely. Students learned the importance of staying on the right side of the trail, communicating, and watching for passing cyclists. Bike traffic on the trail during the activity provided real-world experience with proper trail crossing, helping the students and even some of the teachers!
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Large Profile Vehicle Safety
Black Hills Energy brought a large truck to demonstrate the importance of safe behavior around large vehicles with limited visibility. Each student sat inside the truck to experience how difficult it can be to see around the outside of the vehicle. Putting students in the driver’s seat, even for a moment, helped them understand the need for caution around vehicles of this size.
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Brain Injury Prevention
This station focused on bike safety and the importance of wearing a helmet. Volunteer and Public Health Educator Brian Baker demonstrated each step to make sure a helmet is fitted and placed properly for protection. Baker also showed the students a brain model to demonstrate the need for protective headwear.
“It's important for students to be able to safely navigate around the neighborhood, to and from school, to and from the park.”
Rachel Redepenning, the Active Living and Nutrition Program Coordinator for the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, shared how the trail etiquette and physical activity will help students stay safe on trails in the future.
“This is a great opportunity for us to be able to give the kids some hands-on experience,” Redepenning said. “[Things like] staying on the right hand side of the path and learning those safety messages and rules of the road for when they are out and about on their bikes, on their scooters or skateboards, or just walking and biking around the neighborhood.”
Guiding students through crosswalk safety, Melissa Ramos-Lammli, an LTU Senior Traffic Technician, taught students the importance of being safe while crossing the street, a habit she said she hopes will stick with them.
“This is something that they’re going to take with them for the rest of their lives, and even as they grow up and become drivers themselves,” Ramos-Lammli said. “I’m hoping, even by bringing this education and reminders to the students that they’ll take it home and share it with their families, so that everybody’s a little more safe.”
Elliott Elementary School and LPS are so excited about the opportunity to continue the tradition of Bike to School Day in Lincoln and hope to continue it for many years to come, and are thankful for the support of Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster County (SKLLC) at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU) and Black Hills Energy.
