(ST. LOUIS): The Missouri Botanical Garden is seeking volunteers to lead tours, teach classes, promote membership, help maintain beautiful display gardens, serve as exhibition ambassadors and more. Training is provided for each position and scheduling is flexible.
Tower Grove House Docents and Hosts or Hostesses are sought to introduce visitors to the Victorian country home of Garden founder Henry Shaw. Docent positions require a three- to four-hour commitment one day per week. Docents lead tours throughout the residence, helping visitors understand its importance in the Garden's history. Hosts and Hostesses are needed for three-hour shifts, two days per month. These volunteers greet visitors, show them the reception room and exhibit hall, and help them decide how to make the most of their visit to the house if time is limited. Both Docent and Host/Hostess shifts are available during the week and on weekends.
Volunteer Instructors, Interpretation Station and Great Green Adventure volunteers share the fun of learning with the Garden's young visitors. Volunteer instructors are needed to serve one three-hour shift, one day per week teaching exciting and innovative programs to students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grades. The Garden will supply each instructor with outlines, handouts and planting materials needed to teach the classes. This position requires interaction with children; therefore, candidates are required to undergo a background check.
Interpretation Station volunteers can work a flexible schedule of at least eight hours per month. Interpreters staff stations and mobile carts full of sensory activities, artifacts and plants that create a personal educational experience for visitors. Current stations include "The Japanese Garden," Seiwa-en; "The Tropical Rainforest" inside the Climatron?conservatory; "Bushels of Fun" in the general store at the Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden; and "Steamboat Stories" aboard The Pearl, also located in the Children's Garden.
Great Green Adventure positions are new this year. Volunteers will explore nature and nutrition with families who drop in for crafts and activities on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. from May through October. Great Green Adventures will rotate between the Children's Garden and other display gardens. Two-hour shifts are available from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the first, second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Training is minimal and will be conducted in the first half-hour of each shift. Candidates for this position are required to undergo a background check.
Chapungu Ambassadors and weekend Garden Docents serve as the "face" of the Garden for visitors. From May through October, the Garden will host "Chapungu: Nature, Man, and Myth," an exhibition of monumental stone sculptures by the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Chapungu Ambassadors are needed for two-hour shifts, two days per month to welcome and interact with visitors. Volunteers will provide information on the artists and sculptures and respond to general questions about the exhibit. Candidates must attend one of the following Chapungu training sessions held at the Garden: Apr. 19, 21 or 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. or Apr. 21 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Garden Docents are needed to serve a two-hour shift one to two weekend days per month. Docents must also attend special meetings held the third Saturday of each month from September through May. Docents will lead interpretive public tours of the Garden, offering visitors a more personal, in-depth experience. Docents are asked to make an initial two-year commitment to the program, and a background check is required.
Horticulture Helpers are sought to help maintain the Chinese Garden, Ottoman Garden, two rose gardens and more. Volunteers will assist Horticulture staff with weeding, pruning, edging, mulching, watering, planting, dividing and transplanting. A basic knowledge of garden maintenance is the only requirement. All other training will be provided as needed by the horticulturist assigned to each area. Individuals are asked to commit three to four hours one day per week.
Volunteers are also needed to serve at the Membership Services Information Desk for three-hour shifts, two days per month. Candidates promote the benefits of Garden membership to visitors, answer questions, distribute membership premium gifts, process new and renewal membership forms, and issue temporary cards. Information Desk volunteers also assist those who need to complete a Membership Inquiry Form or make a donation, and take reservations for special events or benefits.
The Garden's Research Division has a special volunteer need this year. Herbarium Sorter and Data Input volunteers are sought to work three-hour shifts one day per week or two days per month (weekends are available). The Herbarium recently acquired over 1,000 boxes of plant material that must be sorted for distribution and entered into the TROPICOS database system. Volunteers will help divide the material by plant group and send it to other research institutions.
For more information, contact Jackie Juras, Manager, Volunteer Program, at (314) 577-5187 or visit www.mobot.org/volunteer. |
