Volunteer assisting students with planting activityTo discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.

—the mission of the Missouri Botanical Garden

The Missouri Botanical Garden's School Programs team supports this mission by creating learning opportunities for school groups that are designed to inspire discovery, appreciation and understanding of the connections between people, plants and the environment. These opportunities make use of experiential learning and inquiry-based design principles, outdoor learning experiences and real-world applications.

The Garden's School Programs Volunteer Educators support this effort in the following ways:

  • Team-style facilitation of Garden Class field trip experiences.
  • Facilitating cart-based interpretation for school groups.
  • Assisting with other onsite events as needed.
 

Commitment

School Programs Volunteer Educators commit to:

  • Submission to a background check provided by the Missouri Botanical Garden. (All volunteers who work with children must pass this background check to participate.)
  • Completion of 24 hours of training to become familiar with all current programming.
  • Participation in one morning per week (typically 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) of School Programs programming at the Missouri Botanical Garden during the months of September through December and February through May to facilitate programming for visiting school groups.
  • Submission of outside hours biannually for submission to the Missouri Botanical Garden Volunteer Coordinator.
  • Participation in monthly meetings and professional development opportunities as they are able.
Yearly Schedule:
August   Veteran Volunteer training (5 hours)
August–September   New Volunteer training (24 hours across eight sessions)
September–December   Fall Semester
January   New Volunteer training (24 hours across eight sessions)
February–May   Spring Semester
June–July   Summers off—Camp work optional for those who wish to help!
 

For More Information

Volunteer Educator leading a tour