LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Many kids wind up spending more time at school than at home. It’s the place they learn the most while also being a staple in the community. One Ballard High School teacher, Kathy Cail, realized this; so, she decided the campus should be just as beautiful as their homes and contribute to their health.
Now, on the east end of town you'll find the home of Team Lorax.
Some call Cail the queen of compassion, and if you look at the trees on Ballard High School's campus, it is easy to tell why. She and her team put in a lot of work to beautify the campus and help reduce the urban heat island with the help of Tree's Louisville.
“Pay it forward if you want to say, in a very long haul way," Cail said.
Cail speaks for the trees, much like the Lorax does. She said she wouldn't have been able to do it without her team of volunteers.
“If you just go somewhere and help someone, you know what it boils down to, you put a smile on someone’s face," Richard Catapano, a parent volunteer, said.
“I was very happy to help, it was a labor of love and it was her leadership I must say," Lamia Elsayed, a parent volunteer, said.
Two hundred trees have been planted across Ballard's campus.
“It represents a kindness that we have, and the empathy that people have and to do something good just because it’s the right thing and it’s a good thing to do," Elsayed said.
According to Cail, Cane Run Elementary School will be getting trees next. They are expected to be planted in the spring.
“I know long after I retire and I’m gone, these threes will still be here," Cail said.
Thank you, Gail, for introducing us to this story on Nextdoor.
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