The Pennsylvania Game Commission once again is helping students learn about the vital role trees play in the environment.

The Seedlings for Schools program provides tree seedlings to classrooms so students can plant them as part of projects to improve wildlife habitat.

Orders placed as part of the “Seedlings for Schools” program are being accepted through March 30. To order, visit the agency’s website, www.pgc.pa.gov, and click on “Seedling Sales” in the Quick Clicks column, then select “Seedlings for Schools.”

There is no charge to schools that participate in this program. The seedlings are provided by the Game Commission’s Howard Nursery and shipping costs are offset by the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation.

“Seedlings for Your Class” provides a classroom, grade level or entire school with enough seedlings so each student can take one home to plant. Traditional favorites white spruce and silky dogwood are available again this year.  Four other species also are being offered:  grey-stemmed dogwood, American sweet crabapple, American highbush cranberry and our beloved state tree, eastern hemlock. A teachers’ guide and planting instructions come with the seedlings and also can be accessed through the website.

In years past, “Seedlings for Your Class” was intended primarily for pre-K and elementary students, but this year it’s been extended to middle- and high-school students.

Seedlings come in bundles of 25, and depending on spring weather, will be shipped directly to schools by UPS from April 2 to 4 and April 9 to 11.

More information about the program can be found on the Game Commission’s website, or by contacting RA-SchoolSeedlings@pa.gov.

Seedlings distributed through the Seedlings for Schools program are provided by the Game Commission’s Howard Nursery. The shipping costs are paid in full by the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation and its contributors.