[photo credit: TREEAMS]
Thirty California sycamores and coast live oaks went into larger containers on the campus of EF Academy Pasadena, establishing the first tree nursery under TREEAMS (Trees + Dreams), a student-led initiative developed in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute. The trees will be tended by students over the next one to two years before being permanently planted in Altadena and other fire-damaged communities, according to the organization.
The nursery launch, held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the private boarding school at 1505 E. Howard St., carry a weight beyond horticulture. Six months ago — on October 1, 2025 — more than 1,000 students had gathered on the same campus for the planned kickoff of TREEAMS with its co-founder, Dr. Jane Goodall. That morning, before the event began, Goodall died at age 91. The celebration became a memorial. A coast live oak was planted in her honor.
Tuesday’s planting marked the next step: turning that grief into canopy.
TREEAMS — which stands for Together Revitalizing Environments and Elevating Awareness by Mobilizing Society — was conceived by Margarita Pagliai, founder and head of school at Seven Arrows Elementary School in Pacific Palisades, in the aftermath of the January 2025 wildfires. The Eaton Fire, which ignited on January 7, 2025, destroyed more than 9,400 structures and claimed at least 17 lives, according to Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
The initiative operates through a partnership among the Jane Goodall Institute, Seven Arrows Elementary, Little Dolphins by the Sea Preschool, the SoLa Foundation and UCLA’s School of Education, according to the TREEAMS website. Its goal: plant 5,000 trees across Los Angeles over the next five years and raise $2 million to fund the effort.
The Pasadena nursery introduces a model designed to address a practical problem. Many fire-impacted neighborhoods in Altadena remain in debris removal or are not yet cleared for replanting. By establishing nurseries on school campuses, students can begin growing trees now and transplant them when communities are ready, according to TREEAMS organizers.
The EF Academy campus already serves as a hub for fire recovery in another way. Saint Mark’s School, an independent Episcopal school that operated at 1050 E. Altadena Drive for 65 years before losing the majority of its campus in the Eaton Fire, relocated its students to the EF Academy grounds in January 2025. Students from Saint Mark’s, which serves developmental kindergarten through sixth grade, participated in Tuesday’s event alongside EF Academy students, according to the TREEAMS key dates page.
“This movement shows what is possible when schools and communities come together with a shared purpose,” Pagliai said in an earlier statement about TREEAMS. “I am very concerned about the depression among young people. We want to provide the scaffolding for students across Los Angeles to lead the way in turning loss into a vision for a brighter and greener future.”
Dr. Sally Mingarelli, head of school at EF Academy Pasadena, has described hosting the initiative as both a privilege and a responsibility. EF Academy, a private day and boarding school that opened in 2022, sits on a 16-acre campus and draws students from more than 30 countries.
The Pasadena nursery is expected to serve as a prototype. TREEAMS organizers have said the model could scale to dozens of schools across Los Angeles over the next year, according to the initiative’s Roots & Shoots project page. In its first year, TREEAMS has partnered with more than 10 schools and developed 35 student leaders, the page states.
The initiative follows the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tacare method, which works with community members and grassroots organizations to design solutions that reflect each neighborhood’s specific needs. TREEAMS is also partnering with UCLA’s School of Education and EcoRise to develop an environmental curriculum teaching students about tree ecology and environmental stewardship.
Additional TREEAMS events are scheduled in the days ahead. An Earth Day planting will take place at Will Rogers State Park on April 25, from 9 to 11 a.m., with a broader community event running from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the TREEAMS website. A second nursery launch is planned at the Aldersgate campus in Pacific Palisades in May.
Goodall, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in early 2025, had recorded a statement for the initiative before her death. “The TREEAMS movement represents the very best of what young people can achieve when they come together with courage and compassion,” she said. “By planting trees, they are helping restore ecosystems, combat climate change, and bring healing to communities in need.”
Those who wish to learn more or donate can visit treeams.org or contact the organization at treeams@sevenarrows.org.
On the Pasadena campus Tuesday, 30 young trees stood in fresh containers — not yet tall enough to shade anything, but already tended by the hands Goodall had hoped to see.
