Bountiful Garden Programming in Collier County
Interview With Kaitlyn Dillard
Education Programs Manager
I met with Dillard to discuss three highly successful educational programs Naples Botanical Garden (NBG) runs in partnership with the Collier County School District: Dirt Made My Lunch, Tropical Topics, and Budding Botanists. We covered the goals and objectives of the programs, the process for evaluation, sources of funding, factors for success, and challenges/obstacles they have faced.
During our meeting, we discussed the following topics:
An overview of the Dirt Made My Lunch, Tropical Topics, and Budding Botanists programs
The goals/objectives of NBG in running these programs
How the programs are evaluated
How the programs are funded
Factors that have contributed to the success of the programs
Obstacles/challenges NBG has faced in running these programs
Advice for other organizations looking to run similar programs
Key Takeaways
Program Overview
Dirt Made My Lunch and Tropical Topics are standards-based field trips. Schools come for a 1-1.5 hour onsite visit. They do a guided tour followed by a hands-on activity.
The purpose of Dirt Made My Lunch is to teach students about edible plants that can be found both in Naples Botanic Garden and at home. The activity usually involves planting a tomato seedling or an herb cutting. Students are taught how to care for their plant, and can either bring it home or plant it at their school.
The Tropical Topics program is for middle schoolers. Students tour the Kapnick Caribbean Garden and Lea Asian Garden to learn how plants have traveled the world. They complete two activities—one, a plant hunt in the Asian Garden to find plants they think would fit into one of five categories of uses: food, water, shelter, tools/medicine, etc. The second activity is an exploration of common plants traded throughout the Caribbean, i.e. coffee, cinnamon, cacao, sugarcane, bananas, vanilla, and more.
NBG’s field trip specialist program, called Budding Botanists, was designed in partnership with the public school system specifically to address a need for a lesson that is hard to teach in a classroom. There is a teacher training which precedes the program, as the sessions are co-lead by school and garden instructors. Students get to dissect flowers to learn about flower anatomy, and they learn about seed dispersal by studying seeds and their carriers. They also conduct field observation to explore pollinators and native plants, and practice scientific journaling. This program is delivered to Collier County schools in the fall when students are in the middle of their life sciences curriculum.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Mercury Bay Rookery National Estuarine, Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary all do their own type of field trip specialist program for separate grade levels.
Goals/Objectives
Dillard feels that Naples Botanic Garden and its partner schools share the same goals:
The main goal is to make science tangible and address different learning styles, which will in turn strengthen comprehension of the scientific concepts addressed. The program also aims to bring kids outside the classroom to learn in the field and have hands-on experiences, all while improving math, reading, writing, observational skills, scientific comprehension, and test scores. The programs aim to help teachers with lessons that are difficult or impossible to replicate in the classroom
Evaluation
The field trip specialist program has pre- and post-visit activities to further students’ learning beyond the garden’s gates. Students prepare for their visit with relevant writing assignments and vocabulary lessons, and are given further writing prompts in the days following. Kaitlyn explains that studies have shown students lose significant plant science and life science knowledge over time, so these programs are designed to complement traditional classroom lessons and improve retention.
Funding
The school programs at the garden are funded through donors/sponsorships/gate fees. The programs are free to schools that participate, and are supported through NBG’s operational budget.
Factors for Success
Dillard feels that the programs are a collaborative effort. Both sides have to benefit in the final product, and communicate about ways to support each other.
Challenges/Obstacles
At first the program was not standards-based, but an addendum was made within the first year. There are some communication challenges with various stakeholders, especially when there is turnover. Initially the school district handled communication with teachers, and NBG only made contact once the visits were scheduled. When Kaitlyn came on, NBG cut out the middleman and took on teacher communications, registration, and scheduling. This has led to logistical improvements in the program.
Increasing the reach of their programs has also been a challenge. To this end, the garden is considering creating virtual versions of many of their programs so any school that wishes to can participate.
Advice for Other Organizations
Kaitlyn’s biggest piece of advice for organizations looking to form similar partnerships is to communicate with your school system administration and teachers, figure out what they are struggling with, and see how you can address those needs. Speaking from experience, she says that this process entails a lot of talking and can take a year, but it’s worth it.
