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Spencer's Butte Middle School and <br />Edgewood Elementary share a large <br />forested area next to their buildings. <br />Many students walk through this <br />forest to get to and from school on a <br />regular basis. <br />Most school campuses wish to keep <br />their maintenance easy-meaning <br />open grass fields. However, Facilities <br />Manager of the 4J District, Daniel <br />Temple connected with us to help <br />promote their unique grounds. <br />Academic research shows that students <br />perform better in classrooms that look <br />out to forested landscapes compared <br />to manicured lawns. Additionally, this <br />type of environment helps strengthen <br />the culture and identity of Eugene to <br />it's rising leaders. Promoting healthy <br />ecosystems within their learning <br />institutions provides an undeniable <br />precedent for what a healthy <br />productive learning environment looks <br />like. <br />Being involved with such a prominent <br />local presence in 4J helped us earn <br />trust through association with the <br />public. There was also a lot of pride <br />within the ODF and NYC staff working <br />on this site, noting that it felt like more <br />meaningful community engagement. <br />We also loved that our work allowed 4J <br />to allocate their budget for promoting <br />other forestry enhancing projects. <br />After <br />Trees are thinned, and <br />pruned so a ground fire <br />is not as likely to climb <br />vertically into the forest. <br />Before <br />Low hanging limbs that <br />connect the ground to canopy <br />on a steep hill outside Edge- <br />wood Elementary. <br />Lower Right PhotoUpper Right Photo 17 <br />SOCIAL <br />4J SCHOOLS <br />February 19, 2020, Work Session – Item 2