{"id":246217,"date":"2026-07-17T22:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246217\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:43:09","slug":"retired-pennsylvania-teacher-honored-for-helping-transform-desert-in-china-into-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246217\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired Pennsylvania teacher honored for helping transform desert in China into forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA retired teacher from Plum, Pennsylvania, is being recognized in China for a donation he made in 1999 that helped transform a desert in Inner Mongolia into a thriving forest. A teacher\u2019s lasting connection to ChinaRon Sakolsky, known as “Mr. S” to his students, taught at Plum Borough School District for 28 years, primarily teaching seventh-grade world history. In 1999, he was selected as one of 14 U.S. teachers to participate in a teaching exchange program in Luoyang, China. \u201cChina made me the person I am today. The Chinese taught me a tremendous amount,\u201d Sakolsky said. \u201cWithin two months, they had already shown me that you appreciate the simple things in life, that you don\u2019t have to have a fancy home or lots of money or a fancy car.\u201d How the Sakolsky Forest beganDuring his year in China, Sakolsky saw a television segment about Yin Yuzhen and her husband, who were working to plant trees in a desert in Inner Mongolia to prevent sand from blowing into Beijing. Touched by their mission, Sakolsky secured a $5,000 donation through a Boston-based organization to support their efforts. \u201cWe\u2019re standing in the middle of nothing, just sand,\u201d Sakolsky said, recalling his visit to the site. \u201cThe idea was that the trees would keep the sand from blowing into the wind and literally traveling 100 kilometers to Beijing, and the sand would blow down the streets of Beijing.\u201d The land where the trees were planted became known as the Sakolsky Forest. Over two decades later, the forest has grown to include 50,000 trees.A Viral reunion and return tripTwo months ago, Sakolsky began receiving emails and text messages after a video about his contribution went viral in China. Yin had taken to social media in hopes of reconnecting with him and inviting him back to China. \u201cThis is what\u2019s amazing. There was nothing there when I was there,\u201d Sakolsky said. The story gained widespread attention, even reaching Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States. In June, Xie issued Sakolsky a 10-year visa to visit China. \u201cThe next thing I know, I get invited to Washington, D.C., as his guest of honor. What a thrill,\u201d Sakolsky said. Yin, who has been practicing her English for their reunion, shared a message for Sakolsky: \u201cHello big brother, I saw you got your visa that day. I\u2019m very happy.\u201d Sakolsky plans to travel to China next month to see the forest and reunite with Yin. Reflecting on his contribution, he said, \u201cAll I wanted to do was thank China for what they had taught me and they made me a better person. I helped Miss Yin to beautify China. I just wanted to help. That\u2019s all I did.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPLUM, Pa. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A retired teacher from Plum, Pennsylvania, is being recognized in China for a donation he made in 1999 that helped transform a desert in Inner Mongolia into a thriving forest. <\/p>\n

A teacher\u2019s lasting connection to China<\/p>\n

Ron Sakolsky, known as “Mr. S” to his students, taught at Plum Borough School District for 28 years, primarily teaching seventh-grade world history. In 1999, he was selected as one of 14 U.S. teachers to participate in a teaching exchange program in Luoyang, China. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cChina made me the person I am today. The Chinese taught me a tremendous amount,\u201d Sakolsky said. \u201cWithin two months, they had already shown me that you appreciate the simple things in life, that you don\u2019t have to have a fancy home or lots of money or a fancy car.\u201d <\/p>\n

How the Sakolsky Forest began\t<\/p>\n

During his year in China, Sakolsky saw a television segment about Yin Yuzhen and her husband, who were working to plant trees in a desert in Inner Mongolia to prevent sand from blowing into Beijing. Touched by their mission, Sakolsky secured a $5,000 donation through a Boston-based organization to support their efforts. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"a<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re standing in the middle of nothing, just sand,\u201d Sakolsky said, recalling his visit to the site. \u201cThe idea was that the trees would keep the sand from blowing into the wind and literally traveling 100 kilometers to Beijing, and the sand would blow down the streets of Beijing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\t\"a<\/p>\n

The land where the trees were planted became known as the Sakolsky Forest. Over two decades later, the forest has grown to include 50,000 trees.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"a<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHearst OwnedMae Le and Li Jiaxin\t<\/p>\n

A Viral reunion and return trip<\/p>\n

Two months ago, Sakolsky began receiving emails and text messages after a video about his contribution went viral in China. Yin had taken to social media in hopes of reconnecting with him and inviting him back to China. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what\u2019s amazing. There was nothing there when I was there,\u201d Sakolsky said. <\/p>\n

The story gained widespread attention, even reaching Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States. In June, Xie issued Sakolsky a 10-year visa to visit China. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"a<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHearst OwnedChinese Embassy in U.S.\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next thing I know, I get invited to Washington, D.C., as his guest of honor. What a thrill,\u201d Sakolsky said. <\/p>\n

Yin, who has been practicing her English for their reunion, shared a message for Sakolsky: \u201cHello big brother, I saw you got your visa that day. I\u2019m very happy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sakolsky plans to travel to China next month to see the forest and reunite with Yin. Reflecting on his contribution, he said, \u201cAll I wanted to do was thank China for what they had taught me and they made me a better person. I helped Miss Yin to beautify China. I just wanted to help. That\u2019s all I did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A retired teacher from Plum, Pennsylvania, is being recognized in China for a donation he made in 1999…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6201,105346,105341,105342,105343,28,30,29,49682,105347,105344,105348,105345],"class_list":["post-246217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-china","tag-exchange-program","tag-inner-mongolia","tag-luoyang","tag-mr-s","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-plum","tag-retired-teacher","tag-ron-sakolsky","tag-thriving-forest","tag-xie-feng"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}