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<\/a><\/p>\nThe students met at lunchtime, ready to get their hands dirty and expand campus greenery. Participants mainly consisted of members of University High\u2019s new environmental club, which was recently founded by Roberts.<\/p>\n
The group, aided by campus grounds workers, planted five valley oaks, a species endemic to Fresno.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to have an actual impact because you can do whatever, so many presentations and talks and things of that sort,\u201d said Justin Downer, a junior at University High. \u201cBut actually having something physical that you can see and walk past every day and be like, \u2018I planted that, I did that.\u2019 It has more meaning to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preparation for the Earth Day Project <\/p>\n
Earth Day tree plantings have become an annual tradition for Roberts, who aims to educate the public about the importance of the environment and supporting native species.<\/p>\n
The high school junior reached out to Fresno State University President Sa\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez-Sandoval, who connected him with grounds workers. Roberts said the process was relatively easy.<\/p>\n
After getting in touch, Roberts and the grounds workers began logistics planning. They decided to plant five trees along a pathway near University High.<\/p>\n
The walkway is already lined with trees planted by other volunteers, showing a history of environmental work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were encouraged by these trees over here,\u201d Downer said pointing to trees nearby. \u201c(They) were all planted by community service members, and so we were inspired by them. And we are hoping to inspire others to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, Fresno State\u2019s Associated Students Inc. designed and posted a flyer on social media promoting the event, encouraging students to participate in planting the trees.<\/p>\n
Importance of Valley Oaks<\/p>\n
The group solely planted valley oaks, which are native to the region and well-suited for the local ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince these valley oaks are native, they can house many more species that are also native to our environment,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
The oaks\u2019 large size and lifespan allow for significant carbon absorption, while requiring less water than grass. Additionally, they support many native species that were displaced as valley oaks were removed from the area.<\/p>\n
At Fresno State, the students are replacing several valley oaks that were removed or died due to disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re planting mostly at school and college campuses so students can learn that these trees support our Central Valley\u2019s ecosystem and they\u2019re a keystone species of fauna,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBy planting them on college campuses, hopefully we can spread awareness that we can revive this ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fresno_State_Earth_Day3-1024x576.jpg\")
University High School and Fresno State University students work together to plant five valley oak trees on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (GV Wire\/Anya Ellis)
\nEnvironmental Education Grows <\/p>\n
University High School\u2019s new environmental club, which started this academic year, has gained 20 members and meets weekly.<\/p>\n
The group discusses environmental and climate issues, aiming to educate themselves on these topics. Projects like the Earth Day tree planting help members approach the challenge of climate change \u201cpiece by piece,\u201d Downer said. \u201cIt makes you feel less small.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts hopes the club will spread awareness about environmental protection and encourage people to actively support sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n
He also hopes to provide a foundation for understanding the importance of the environment, which he said could lead to greater change in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In celebration of Earth Day, students from Fresno State and University High School teamed up to plant five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-281133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}