Tree seeds that were flown to outer space by NASA were planted at an Orange County elementary school. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.
To the moon and back, twice!
After NASA flew tree seeds to the moon as part of its Artemis mission, those seeds are now seedlings, and one Orange County elementary school got the honor of planting one.
Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary school in Lake Forest was one of 50 recipients of a “moon tree.” The school was chosen from several hundred applicants across the country to plant the seedling in its community, according to NASA.
“It’s about maybe 1 and a half feet tall. It’s bright green,” said Emily Aguesse, a sixth grade student. “And it’s very beautiful.”
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Aguesse and her schoolmates won’t be around to see the Giant Sequoia fully grown. None of us will.
“It’s going to be very, very big in about 500 years!” exclaimed Aguesse.
But future kids will learn the story behind Aguesse and her schoolmates, and how the tree earned the name: Moon tree.
“(It’s) literally out of this world,” said Aguesse. “It went around the moon twice actually.”
After careful review of hundreds of applications, NASA selected organizations from across the country to receive “Moon Tree” seedlings that flew around the Moon on the agency’s Artemis I mission in 2022 to plant in their communities, according to NASA’s website.
Aimee Burdette, who teaches 4th grade at the school, said getting the moon tree was a team effort by the students, parents and community.
“They found this grant, and they worked tirelessly to apply for this,” said Burdette. “And when they saw how many things we were already doing at the school that makes stewards for a moon tree, the way we compost, the way we connect with our gardens almost every day. Yes! Of course we need a moon tree."
Stacy Fudge is a third grade teacher who also worked on the application.
“They don’t typically give them out to schools that often,” said Fudge. “So we were one of the first school elected.”
As the tree needed a special day and tree planting ceremony, more than 500 students, parents, teachers and community members gathered Monday to plant their moon tree.
“I think having a space traveler come to our school and grow with our kids is pretty exciting,” said Liz Gibson, who was in charge of organizing the special tree planting ceremony Monday. Her son Wyatt is in 5th grade.
“I helped put the tree into the ground,” said Gibson. “It was a lot of stress because one wrong move could make all the work for nothing.”
The moon tree will grow in one of several gardens at the school.
“We are seeing the connection being built in front of our eyes,” said Wyatt’s mother. “Kids don’t always learn from hearing a story or watching a video – by creating hands on opportunities and shared experiences, they are not learning about the world from a book, but being active participants in it.”
This lesson is one from out of this world that students hope will live on for generations to come.
“I think it would be really nice to take my great grandkids to this tree and say I planted that,” said Aguesse. “And this is how big it was when I planted it.”
