In an effort to be more involved in the school community outside of athletics, football coach and Social Studies teacher Scott Baum, his football team, and several water polo players planted 20 trees by the football field on Saturday, April 28.

According to Baum, the amount of pollution his team created from using buses for game transportation was equivalent to the amount of trees they planted, and that his team will be giving back to the community more often in the future.

“All sports should do more environment friendly activities for our school. It’s definitely a privilege to be an athlete here at Niles West, and I encourage them to give back to the school and go green,” he said.

His athletes support his opinion.

“Planting all of those trees was a not only a great thing to do for the environment, it was also a great way to make our look school better and it was fun to do something with my team outside of practice,” said sophomore Louis Reinenman.

“It was such a fun experience. I had fun planting trees and bonding with my fellow teammates, coaches, and teachers. It’s taught me how to help the environment, and I’m looking forward to doing activities like those in the future,” said junior Connor Lee.

Science teacher and c0-chair of GCSI Neil Koreman said the idea came about through conversations with varsity athletes in his science classes who were concerned about climate change.

“I would like to engage any team and any coach that is willing to make a difference in the world. Planting a tree is an expression of hope,” he said.