School Has It Made in the Shade

With cranes in tow, three tractor-trailer rigs rolled onto the Cielo Vista Elementary School campus Tuesday bearing a gift of shade: a dozen large coral trees moved for freeway construction.

As students watched excitedly from a safe distance, crews spent the day unloading the mature trees into holes dug around the school’s baseball, soccer and softball fields.

“I’m happy the school will have shade, because it gets hot here,” said sixth-grader Sammy Forrest, 11. “It will look nicer here too.”

The 13 donated trees, which bloom with bright-red flowers and grow to 40 feet, were delivered compliments of the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

Dorothy Flynn, who has three children enrolled at the school, spearheaded the effort. She said she noticed the trees a few weeks ago while driving on the Foothill Corridor. Abandoned and headed for the dump, they had been moved for expansion of the corridor.

Flynn worked with school officials, the transportation agencies and Silverado Constructors, a local subcontractor, to arrange the trees’ transport. In less than a month, the deal was done.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Flynn.

Principal Larry Callison said the 6-year-old campus tends to heat up in the fall and spring. The new trees will also be enjoyed by residents who use the athletic fields on weekends, he said. “We’re happy to adopt the trees,” Callison said. “To have this kind of business support so quickly and generously is very much appreciated.”

Michele Miller of the transportation agencies, lauded the group effort: “I’m really happy we could do this for the parents and students.”