Community of Practice for Schoolyard Forests #21 - Arkansas Urban and Community Forestry Program

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR SCHOOLYARD FORESTS Meeting #21 — May 21, 2026 The Community of Practice for Schoolyard Forests is an open and welcoming monthly discussion forum for school districts, county offices of education, and public agencies in California and around the country to share information as they move forward with establishing schoolyard forests at scale. Our goal is to provide support and to build a collegial “community of practice” and national network to strengthen these efforts. We also welcome tree planting organizations, landscape architects, and others from anywhere in the world who support school districts in this work. On May 21, 2026, Kristine Kimbro and Harold Fisher of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Program will share how their STOP Program aims to not only get shade trees in the ground at Arkansas schools, but to meaningfully engage each student in the tree selection, planting, and stewardship process. GUEST SPEAKERS --- Kristine Kimbro, Urban and Community Forestry Coordinator, Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Program --- Harold Fisher, Urban and Community Forestry Partnership Coordinator , Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Program MEETING HOSTS Mikaela Randolph, MPP, Associate Director, Regional Programs WEBINAR TIMING: 0:00 Introduction by Mikaela Randolph 01:50 Presentation by Kristine Kimbro and Harold Fisher 37:05 Q&A 52:00 Closing by Mikaela Randolph RESOURCES Visit our events page for all our ongoing online series, plus recordings of past sessions: www.greenschoolyards.org/events Green Schoolyards of America Schoolyard Forest Library - Chapter on Stewardship Tasks with Students: https://www.greenschoolyards.org/stew... Tree Health Survey: https://static1.squarespace.com/stati... RESOURCES FROM GUEST SPEAKERS Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Urban and Community Forestry Program: https://agriculture.arkansas.gov/fore... • The Forest Where Ashley Lives (PDF): https://shop.iastate.edu/extension/fa... • Project Learning Tree: https://www.plt.org/ • Arbor Day Foundation: https://www.arborday.org/ • pbskids.org/plumlanding/educators • Discovering the Urban Forest Activity Book (PDF): https://urbanforestrysouth.org/resour... • National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF): https://www.neefusa.org/ FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GREENING SCHOOL GROUNDS AND CREATING LIVING SCHOOLYARDS, PLEASE SEE: Green Schoolyards America https://www.greenschoolyards.org/ Green Schoolyards America collaborates with school districts and public agencies to create Living Schoolyard Initiatives that transform asphalt-covered school grounds into park-like green spaces that improve children’s well-being, learning, and play while contributing to the ecological health and resilience of our cities. We are working to change the norm for school ground design, use, and management so that all children will have access to the natural world in the places they already visit on a daily basis. Our programs support the living school ground movement, build relationships that help it succeed, and work to embed this perspective in our existing institutions and policy and regulatory frameworks.