Youth Education Docents Needed At Botanical Garden

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Horticulture Background is Not Required, Just a Desire to Work With Kids

Sonoma Valley’s Quarryhill Botanical Garden is putting out an open call for volunteers to train as docents for their 2017-2018 Education Program for Sonoma County 4 th and 5 th graders. Docent training runs Wednesdays July 26 through August 30.

The Educational school tours at Quarryhill offer youth an immersive garden tour that increases their understanding of and appreciation for the natural world. The tours wind through the garden in the manner of plant hunters in the wild, collecting seeds, leaves, fruits and flowers for examination. It’s a chance for elementary students to experience a beautiful garden and supplement their classroom botanical education with a distinctive outdoor experience.

Science opens up a world of future opportunities, both professionally and personally, for today’s youth. Quarryhill is on track to host 1,400 students this coming academic year in its science education program, but in order to accommodate this growing demand, Quarryhill needs more youth education docents.

Volunteers are not required to have a botanical or horticultural background to be a youth education docent. Quarryhill staff will teach them everything they need to know. Volunteers just need to have a passion for teaching children. Training will be held on six consecutive Wednesdays, July 26th through August 30th from 9:00-noon, and end with one last class either on Tuesday, September 5 th or Thursday, September 7 th (volunteer’s choice) from 9:30-noon.

In addition to the environmental education benefits of volunteering at Quarryhill, there are also many personal and social benefits as well-meeting new people, making friends, connecting with your community, making a difference in people’s lives, and so much more.

Sonoma Valley’s Quarryhill Botanical Garden is not only a modern-day ark of rare and beautiful plants, but a place where education and conservation are at the heart of its mission. To sign up for Quarryhill education docent training, contact Eva Corbin at 707.996.6027 or ecorbin@quarryhillbg.org. For more information, please go to http://www.quarryhillbg.org/page93.html.

About Quarryhill Botanical Garden
A 25-acre wild woodland garden nestled in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma, California, featuring over 25,000 wild-origin plants from Asia in a naturalistic setting, has grown into a world-renowned botanical institution, providing other botanical gardens, arboreta, researchers, conservationists, students, and the visiting public with living examples of the beautiful and threatened temperate flora of East Asia. Celebrating its 30 th year, Quarryhill is home to one of the largest collections of scientifically documented, wild-source Asian plants in North America and Europe, many of which represent ancestors of horticultural favorites found throughout the western world. It is not only a modern-day ark of rare beautiful plants but also a place for peaceful recreation, where education and conservation is at the heart of its mission and runs as deep as the tranquil ponds and seasonal waterfalls that surround it. Quarryhill Botanical Garden is one of the most exotic and biologically diverse places in Sonoma Valley. quarryhillbg.org