Philadelphia Weekly

Tree people: Among those working hard at Awbury Arboretum one recent day were Arthur Williams (clockwise from top left), Ignatius Weeks, Brizzilia Solomon, Linda Brown, Brenda Allen, Vincent Bowen and Corevon Wyatt.

Your muscles tighten as you reinforce your safety harness. A cold sweat comes over you, and your feet begin to shake as you venture out on the thick branch toward the overgrown limbs ahead. You struggle to maintain control of a small chainsaw, smelling gasoline and your own sweat.

Fear. Suddenly you get it: the rush. That's when the shivers subside and you remember why you're 60 feet above the ground, holding a deadly power tool and trying not to look down.

You may call it terrifying. Taufeeq Taylor calls it Tuesday morning.

As a graduate of the Awbury Arboretum Apprenticeship Program, Taylor now works as a city landscaper, planting and pruning large trees, mowing lawns and greening vacant city lots. "Before the program, I worked at McDonald's," he says. "I'd never even used a weed whacker before. Now I'm planting trees by the Franklin Institute. I just came down out of a tree, actually."

Through a partnership with Martin Luther King High School--where most of the program attendees, including Taylor, come from-- Germantown's Awbury Arboretum is taking a new approach to urban greening efforts.

In a program created three years ago by state Rep. Dwight Evans, Awbury Arboretum puts Philly kids on a track to a great career, all while adding much-needed tree coverage to a city struggling to maintain green spaces.

"Instead of resorting to street crime, as do some of their peers, these kids are learning a useful trade. They're making money, finding opportunity and hope for their futures, and are making our city a healthier and more beautiful place," Evans says.

Linda Brown, apprenticeship program co-manager and one of its teachers, makes it clear the program isn't for everyone. "We're out on the hottest day of the summer and the coldest day of the winter. We have strict rules on attendance, getting along well with others, team work and taking initiative. Often our students have a lot of energy and have not done well in a traditional classroom. This is a wonderful career discovery for the right person."

Combining classroom instruction and hands-on field training, students are immersed in plant identification and garden design while learning how to operate and maintain a variety of landscaping equipment. Brown is confident that by the end of their time at Awbury, students have a broad knowledge of plant life and landscaping techniques. But she believes many students leave with more.

"The greatest change in most students is a new observation and stewardship for the environment in their everyday surroundings," she says. "They start noticing their neighbors' lawns, and offer to help with the maintenance. They're able to identify the trees planted on their street. They realize the long-term impact of environmental issues like stormwater runoff and litter."

Evans has kept his promises to young, ambitious future landscapers and environmentally conscious citizens alike. He's fought for funding, and brought the arboretum many community-event contracts, allowing graduates the chance to show off their work.

The hope is that the funding will continue because Awbury executive director Gerry Kaufman thinks big. He's already graduated more than 30 students, watched his graduates assist in planting more than 300 trees across the inner city, and has his eyes on more expansive plans.

"I have two words for you: urban agriculture," Kaufman gushes, overflowing with optimism for his young landscaping proteges. "There's a trend now toward organic local produce. If we could get the funding to create inner-city gardens, we could green the city while creating a product. That would truly be something."

The program plans to follow up a successful summer session with another crop of green-thumbed graduates. And with plenty of students to keep the arboretum looking its best, Kaufman has nothing but time to show it off.

But if you ask the students, they're happy just to be a part of something they love. "The best part," Taufeeq Taylor says, "is the rush. Standing out on the limbs, that adrenaline rush when you look 50 or 60 feet down before you get to work. There's nothing like it."