RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — In honor of Arbor Day, Rapid City is teaming with local students to plant trees in a local park.

Students Bristol Simmons and Kellen Kirsch are getting their hands dirty for Arbor Day..

“It is really fun, it’s awesome,” Bristol Simmons, student, said.

“It’s like a picture but you are actually there and get to experience it instead of just listening, filling out worksheets,” Kellen Kirsch, student, said.

The students are planting 28 trees all around Wilson Park. The students are 4th and 5th graders from Wilson Elementary School.

The City Landscape and Forestry Supervisor Jason Preble says it’s a great opportunity to get young kids excited about helping the environment.

“Boy, the sooner you can get kids interested in gardening and planting and stuff, the better. That’s kind of the way I grew up and I think I turned out okay. They really benefit from learning how the natural world works,” Jason Preble, Rapid City Landscape and Forestry Supervisor, said.

And there’s no better way to do that, than with a hands-on lesson.

“I like planting trees a lot, it helps our environment and stuff so I think it’s helpful for our environment. And it gets us to do stuff that we normally don’t get to do in school,” Simmons said.

“I just think that we need it and that everyone should help out,” Kirsch said.

This is an annual event with Rapid City Schools and the Parks Division. The City gets different schools involved each year.