Katy Plantenberg
Students demonstrate the life cycle of plants as part of a lesson on ecology.
“We are going to be scientists today,” Sarah Ellis tells her audience of second graders from Levi Leonard elementary school in Evansville. Ellis is the youth and family programs coordinator at Olbrich Botanical Gardens and this is one of some 93 “Explore” sessions held here yearly, tailored to kids from pre-school to fifth grade who come to augment their science curricula.
The events room, in which this session takes place, is pleasant enough, but it’s a bit chilly and basic, more suited perhaps to the dahlia show than 40-some wriggling 7-year-olds.
Providing a more appropriate space for the Gardens’ many educational programs is a key driver behind the new two-story Learning Center addition planned to attach to the current lobby of Olbrich Gardens. Plans for the new addition were unveiled at a public meeting on Oct. 18.
The new 8,500 square feet of flexible classroom space will “move our education into a more prominent location,” Olbrich director Roberta Sladky says, “so people will see we’re doing important work that every public garden should be engaged in, to teach children the importance of plants and environment in our world.” Most serious public gardens active in the American Public Gardens Association have an education component, says Sladky. “It’s an important part of our individual mission and of public gardens as a whole.”
In the last six years Olbrich has “really grown these early childhood and school programs. We have toddlers ages 2 to 4 who come here and learn science for their level of intellectual development. But we don’t have a good place to host these programs — they’ve always been in the same room that we use for weddings,” Sladky says. The Evjue Commons, also used for some classes, was likewise designed to be rented out for adult events.
Today’s Explore class is centered on ecology (other units the staff offer are “tropical,” held in the Bolz Conservatory in winter; and botany, in the spring). The kids are eager to get involved; half of the hour-long session is held in the gardens, where they hunt for plants and animals in a lesson on ecological diversity. The indoor half of the session is divided into three stations, taught by volunteers, focusing more specifically on the science behind such processes as the water cycle that create diverse environments.
Education at Olbrich is not limited to school classes. Throughout the year, there are also classes and workshops for adults and children. While some are closely related to learning about the plants in the gardens, others range from home landscaping and gardening to wellness (yoga, tai chi), art (bookmaking, photography, knitting), and cooking (canning, use of herbs, Pakistani cuisine) — a wide-ranging roster. Usually under $100 (less for Olbrich members) with some as low as $10, the classes typically have a registration deadline of a week before the start date. More information is at olbrich.org/education/classes.cfm.
The city of Madison is expected to help fund the addition with $5 million in the 2018 capital budget (the aging greenhouse will also be replaced with a more eco-friendly and efficient space). The Olbrich Botanical Society has already raised 92 percent of funds needed to match that sum and is launching a campaign, “Rooted and Growing,” to solicit donations from the public. Olbrich staff is planning for construction to begin in September 2018 and hopes for completion a year later.
