This summer, as the sun began scorching the dry Los Angeles area, TreePeople and local high school kids joined together to rescue some very vulnerable young trees, and I got to be a part of it.

I was fortunate enough to lead 2 dedicated groups of upcoming seniors who made my job fun and easy. Both North Hollywood High School and Providence High School have dedicated Eco Clubs on their campuses, but students took drought response a step further over their summer vacations by adopting parks and performing weekly tree care and watering.

I was blown away by the dedication these kids showed on a weekly basis, often showing up at 7am to lug buckets of water back and forth across the park. They chose the 7am time, and wouldn’t budge when I asked for a somewhat more reasonable summer vacation hour. Listening to them talk about their senior year commitments and college choices became my favorite part of the entire process, and I found myself wishing we’d had a group like TreePeople to inspire us to get out and change our world where I grew up.

These kids will be our future scientists, doctors, writers and teachers, and I will get to say that I taught them how to identify and care for trees one summer before they went off to change the world. My name is Rachael Tice, and I am TreePeople.