Enhancing Education With Tree Ceilings

Your donation has paved the way to putting tree ceilings in six school districts.  Tree ceilings have become an oasis of calm and mental health support in the classroom.  Results We’re Seeing:  Last January, Nature In The Classroom installed a tree ceiling in the wellness room at Cesar Chavez Academy in Corona, CA.  Positive behaviors were observed in students, like the case of an emotionally overwhelmed fifth-grader who calmed down almost instantly when she entered the wellness room. They witnessed this continued calming effect of the trees over several months and determined its effectiveness, leading to the decision to add tree ceilings to six classrooms.  Your donation helped illustrate that this concept works!

Hi,

Your donation formed the foundation that has led us down this path.  I am excited to announce that Nature In The Classroom has partnered with Dr. Richard Taylor and the University of Oregon.  Dr. Taylor is the world's leading expert on the science of the effects of tree patterns.  The Universtiy of Oregon (UO) has evealuated our catalog of tree canopies and found them to be life like.  The scores they gave our catalog of tree murals is equal to seeing a real tree.  This fall, in partnership wiht the Los Angeles Unified School Distrrict, UO will ddocument the impact of the tree ceilings in the classroom.  I have had a sneak preview as to what the results will look like.  I asked a kindergardner what she liked about having a tree ceiling in her classroom.  She was sitting on her calves, straightened up, flipped her hair back and says to me, "It calms me up".

We would not be here were it not for your generous support that has helped us get down this path.

Thank You!!

Ernie

Nature In The Classroom installed an oak tree ceiling in Cesar Chavez Academy's Wellness Room in December.  It is a place for students and teachers to decompress and experience calmness in a welcoming environment. After teachers and staff witnessed the immediate benefits to students under high-stress situations, they discovered the effects were so prolific, they invited us back to complete additional ceilings in classrooms. 

We installed six ceilings last week in the middle school, so as students rotate through their schedule during their day, they will be in one or two classrooms that have tree ceilings.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive bringiing out the joy of being back in the classroom to 500 middle schoolers and their teachers.  Your support has made it possible to enrich the lives of these students, thier families and teachers. 

Check out the classroom transformation in the before & after photos and time lapse installation video. 

Links:

• Ten second time lapse video showing classroom transformation

As this crazy year closes, I want to share a moment of sanity and deep appreciation.  Telemundo52 in Los Angeles recently did a story on the tree ceiling installations we did at Gage Middle School in East Los Angeles.  They interviewed students and a teacher about how the tree ceilings made them feel on their return to the classroom.  Their response punctuates the reason you donated to make this project happen.  As you watch the attached video, listen to their comments and the spirit in their voices. They speak for the 1,200 students at Gage Middle School.  Your donation made this possible.  I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas holiday.  

Links:

• Telemundo reports on Gage Middle School in Huntington Park.

Students, staff and teachers at Henry T. Gage Middle School were welcomed back for the 2021-22 school year as they discovered the surprise appearance of tree canopy ceilings in three classrooms and the school library. The placement and intended use of these lifelike and realistic appearing canopy ceilings is to promote achievement and decrease anxiety in academic settings especially with the added stress of the current Covid-19 pandemic. 

Backed by forty years of peer-reviewed scientific research on the positive effects of nature in academia, the aim of the canopy ceilings will be to raise test scores and grade point averages, increase attention spans, and lower stress levels. This research also finds photographic images of nature share comparable impacts with improved learning outcomes by placing students in a calming environment. 

“Our goal is to bring a little relief to the anxiety kids are feeling getting back to the classroom and bring out the sense of happiness in coming to school”, said Founder and Executive Director, Ernesto Rodriguez. 

The classroom and library ceilings feature four different local tree species photographed in Los Angeles County. To achieve the naturalistic effects of being outdoors, thirty-two high resolution images were printed on 2’x4’ ceiling tiles and pieced together to complete the ceiling canopy. All tiles meet existing national building fire codes and are produced with non-toxic inks on recycled plastic. 

The tree canopy ceilings will also act as a built-in learning opportunity and focal point about nature and the environment. Additionally, they will serve to further complement and broaden the benefits of Gage Middle School’s existing gardening and Social Emotional Learning programs.

"Based on the feedback I have receiceved, not only are the students engaged and learning about nature, teachers are also attesting that students are much calmer under the trees and that is music to my ears," added Rodriguez.