The Iowa Association of Naturalists and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition awarded Pella Christian High School and teacher Audra Faber with Awards for Excellence in Environmental Education.

The recognition includes the Sylvan Runkel Environmental Education School Award for outstanding whole-school environmental education program and the Bohumil Shimek Environmental Educator Award for an educator with innovative Environmental Education programming beyond her/his job description. Every year, Faber teaches students about trees, and when the school moved to Eagle Lane in 2007, the trees were quite sparse, and the kids had to be bussed to other locations to study. This academic year, Faber says she coordinated the Iowa DNR “Trees for Kids” grant application and received $5,000 to plant 54 native trees and shrubs on the 33-acre campus.

The Biology II class of juniors and seniors learned how to properly plant trees, and then led a group of sophomores and other seniors on the day of the tree planting.