Just tell any kid something is as old as the dinosaurs and you’ll capture their attention, even if it’s a ginkgo tree.

Sparks urban forester Mike Kelley enjoys teaching that way every chance he gets, especially when it comes to teaching kids about the importance of planting and caring for trees.

The second and third grade classes at Alice Maxwell Elementary School celebrated Nevada Shade Tree Week on Wednesday by planting of a few trees while receiving a brief education about respecting one of nature’s most important resources.

“The state has been doing this for four years,” said Kelley. “We plant trees while they’re young and wait until they’re dormant. ... It’s like our fall Arbor Day.”

National Shade Tree Week is a statewide program that takes place the last week of October and offers various tree-planting and educational activities. It is sponsored by the Nevada Shade Tree Council, a non-profit volunteer organization consisting of community forestry professionals who promote proper planting practices for the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) and holds year-round workshops, plantings and presentations.

Kelley, who has worked for the NDF, said he enjoys educating the kids and has two farms where he grows the trees for planting around the city. Most of that planting takes place just before winter sets in.

To be planted in the Reno-Sparks area and survive, the trees must be a 2-inch caliper, the measurement of which is taken 6 inches above ground.

Using a branch he removed from one tree because it was too low to the ground, Kelley showed kids how to protect the trees from vandalism without snapping off branches.

“This will never, ever, ever heal,” he said. “It’s dead forever.”

He described how pretty a chokecherry tree will be in the spring with long branches and white flowers.

To the kids’ amazement and with a tree spade and onlooking students, Sparks forestry staff poured water into a pre-dug hole and the kids watched in amazement as the spade placed a ginkgo tree, a species that dates back to prehistoric times, into the hole and the roots were covered with soil.

“Cool!” students yelled.

Shannon Longfield, a third-grade teacher, said the planting is “awesome” for the students.

“I don’t think they appreciate how it takes dedication and effort by the department by individually planting the trees,” Longfield said. “It helps them understand the replenishing of the environment. We have these beautiful parks but it also helps the environment.”

Longfield said the students are studying a unit on the environment to and how to protect its resources. The classroom, she said, also practices recycling.

“I don’t think children, and even people driving on the highway, see all the beautiful land and it’s important to see the effort,” she said.

Also at Wednesday’s planting was the Sparks Forestry’s icon, Barkley Shades, the famous tree friend who gave out treats after students each added on a handful of dirt as part of the planting. The children also received free t-shirts.

Washoe County schools receive trees from the forestry division thanks to a partnership with the AT&T phone book recycling program.

Maya Dickerson, program director from Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, said that for every ton of phone books donated, the forestry division receives 17 trees to plant. Kelley said he gets about 30 trees a year from the program.

Brian Bessette, Kelley’s boss and operations supervisor for Sparks Parks and Recreation, which oversees the forestry division, called Kelley a “big kid” because of his passion for trees.

The AT&T recycling program begins again this year on Nov. 24 and ends Dec. 31. There are five drop-off locations to return old phone books, including the Sparks Recreation Gym, the Alf Sorensen center and the new Golden Eagle Regional Park.