Meeting at the LSU/Hammond Ag Research Center

Dr. Burley and I met with Regina Bracy at the LSU Ag Research Center in Hammond on Thursday. Regina had a lot of great ideas for our project, including a way in which we could easily acquire additional funding. Here are a few of the things that came out of the meeting:

• Bracy's Nursery would likely donate 4-5 additional trees in 4 gallon buckets. These would be comparable to the trees we already attained at Lowe's
• Using the saplings we attained from LA Ag and Forestry, we could allow each student to plant their own tree. Doing this would give them pride of ownership and hopefully encourage them to devote time to ensuring their individual tree's survival. This would be a teaching experience and would encourage the development of an environmental identity.
• Regina suggested getting small, metal flags from Lowe's to place in the ground next to the young saplings. Students could put their names on the flags, revealing each tree's ownership. Doing this would add visibility to the presence of the young tree and hopefully keep it from being damaged by lawnmowers or by other students playing in the vicinity.
• Regina noted that we did not need to stake the young saplings that we attained from LA Ag and Forestry.
• Finally, Regina mentioned that she was in charge of allocating grant dollars for the Hammond Tree Foundation. She felt that our project was worthy of receiving some of the funds, and she asked that we submit a letter requesting the funds and detailing how we would spend them were they allocated to us. Upon doing so, she felt that she would be able to allocate at least $250.00 to our project. Jessica and I are going to put the letter together by early next week.