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Join our next Docent Training at SFBG
Join one of the top botanical gardens in the United States, with a collection of over 8,000 different kinds of plants, for our upcoming Docent Training, and learn how to introduce Garden visitors to the tremendous collection of plants and gardens that make up SFBG. This ten-week session is one part of a two-part docent training series in which you will learn about the plants and gardens within San Francisco Botanical Garden. This class will emphasize the California Native, Meso-American Cloud Forest, Fragrance and Succulent Gardens, as well as Asian plants and magnolias. Details
During the training you will work directly with Garden visitors and experienced docents. The training will emphasize successful techniques for interacting with the public and for creating engaging interpretation of SFBG's plants and gardens. You do NOT need any special plant or science background to enroll, only a desire to learn and share your knowledge with Garden visitors. What Our Docents Have to SayOur training program arms docents with the tools they need to share their knowledge of one of the top botanical gardens in the world. But don't take our word for it – here's what our docents have to say. 
SFBG's Docent Training is one of the best educational experiences I've ever had, combining knowledge about plants from all over the globe with hands-on experience in a diverse, world-class plant collection. Better yet, you get to use this combined understanding, passing it on to visitors to the Garden while introducing them to the wonders of the botanical realm. An invaluable chance to both learn and teach! What I enjoy about being a docent: Learning and sharing knowledge about plants and the Garden with truly interested, inquiring people. Not only fellow docents, but all our visitors. When a child looks through a magnifying glass at a fern frond and says, "That's cool!" or someone asks "What should we see first?" a wonderful conversation usually happens. The training days were great because we were a small group, had very knowledgeable instructors, spent lots of time in the various gardens, and practiced talking with visitors. Very practical, and so easily friendly for a new student. The Docent Training program introduced me to a new world of beauty and to a group of people who are anxious to share their knowledge with the public and with me. I've gained a lot of joy and knowledge in volunteering as an Interpretation Station (IS) docent at the Garden, meeting other like-minded people and fabulous visitors. I've learned so much about plants of the Mediterranean climate, shared with only five regions in the world, which has informed my own plant knowledge base as an herbalist and plant lover. The Garden is such a botanical jewel and always a learning experience for me. I'm very grateful to live so close to it and be one of its docents. The Docent Training program was the most enjoyable learning experience I can remember - I was so sad when it was over. Led by caring, dedicated and knowledgeable individuals, the program not only trained me about plants, ecology and climate, but by the end of the training, I felt I knew how to engage the public and share what I had learned. |
