CALIFORNIA TREE ACADEMY:

As a consultant to the LA Conservation Corps from 2010-2012, Mr. Smith developed the "California Tree Academy" curriculum, and delivered the pilot program to the LA Corps and several other California Local Conservation Corps. Funded by CalFire, Mr. Smith was able to: 1)train 72 staff for a total of 2080 training hours; and 2) train 303 corps members for a total of 8576 training hours. In addition, 1031 "after school youth (middle school age)" received 90 minutes each of education using the instruction manual that can be downloaded by clicking on the image to the right.

The full curriculum delivered to corps members consisted of 5 modules. Each was designed for 2-3 hours of classroom education and 4-5 hours of field training. The guiding principle behind the curriculum was educating all participants on the "Right Tree, Right Place, Planted the Right Way" concept of urban forestry and arboriculture. This included a module devoted to "Water Relations" - water conservation principles and techniques and stormwater management. The curriculum concluded with an overview of the wide array of "green industry" career pathways available for those interested in transitioning into more advanced education and training opportunities.

PDFs of the PowerPoints used during the instruction/training are available upon request.

After School Manual
Module 1 Basic Arborculture Urban Forestry
Module 2 Tree Inventory
Module 3 Tree Selection, Nursery Standards, Tree Pruning
Module 4 Water
Career Paths