Denver, CO – To celebrate spring, the environment, and early childhood education, local real estate firm Atlas Real Estate Group hosted 36 first and second grade students from Escuela de Guadalupe, a small, bilingual Catholic elementary school in west Denver, for a field trip filled with lessons on the importance of water conservation and planting xeric (low water) plants.
Ara Massey, Director of Sustainability for Hord Coplan Macht, a commercial architecture firm located in downtown Denver, led the xeriscape and water conservation presentation while Atlas founder Ryan Boykin helped to translate the presentation into Spanish. Students learned which home utilities and appliances use the most water, and how they, as individuals, can contribute to water conservation at home on a daily basis. Massey also taught the Escuela de Guadalupe students about the beautiful drought-resistant perennials they would be planting and the benefits of xeriscaping, especially in a high desert climate like Colorado.
Post presentation, Atlas Real Estate Group employees, Massey, and the Escuela de Guadalupe students got their hands dirty while planting over 50 xeric plants in the new Atlas garden designed especially for the children. Atlas ordered the xeric plants from the Center for ReSource Conservation, a local organization whose programs like Garden in a Box provide impactful and powerful ways to conserve natural resources, in partnership with local and regional water utilities committed to water conservation.
Photo credit: Atlas Real Estate Group