FE AT URE
Plants & Trees Inspire Bright Futures Students discover that volunteering and learning go hand in hand. By Tracee Patterson, Associate Director of Volunteer and Employee Engagement
For nearly 20 years, volunteers assisting at our Cleveland Botanical Garden campus in the early morning hours may have seen a somewhat sleepy-looking group of teen volunteers hauling plants, tools, books and backpacks on their way to Hershey Classroom. These are the students of Excel TECC. Excel TECC (Technical Education Career Consortium) is an innovative career program designed to prepare local high school students for technical careers. Holden Forests & Gardens relationship with Excel TECC began in 2003, when Cleveland Botanical Garden began hosting students from the Gates Mills Environmental Education Center (GMEEC). During the academic year, Lead Instructor Kim Haydu would bring 12 students to the Botanical Garden and the Midtown Green Corps Learning Farm. They would receive traditional classroom instruction as well as hands-on experience that enhanced their learning and provided much-needed volunteer support to horticultural staff, contributing about 3,500 volunteer hours annually. Director of Gardens & Glasshouses Andrew Pratt was serving as Grounds Manager in those early years and worked with the students
20 FORESTS & GARDENS
