Fifty-four volunteers spent Indigenous Peoples Day planting 30 more native trees at Alexandria’s James K. Polk Elementary School, completing the second of three efforts to add 100 new trees to the school grounds.

Volunteers from Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria worked alongside teachers from the school, whose colleague Steve Neeley headed up the effort by educators. Other volunteers included a large contingent from Northern Virginia Volkswagen operations and several people from the Alexandria community who had been recruited by Tree Steward Bonnie Petry.

Petry and Tree Stewards Lynn Gas and Jane Seward sparked the tree-planting plan more than a year ago, engaging Neeley from the school and Alexandria natural resources officials Bob Williams and Rod Simmons plus city arborist John Marlin. The first 33 trees were planted by volunteers in April and are thriving despite the recent drought because they were watered during the growing season. Without additional rain, watering will need to continue for all the new trees until the ground freezes and resume next spring.

Former mayor Allison Silberberg greeted the volunteers to thank them for helping Alexandria move toward her goal of increasing the city’s tree canopy. She and Tree Steward Jo Allen took pictures, and here are some of their views of the day.