Fall is a beautiful time of year in the forest and it is also the time you hear the voices of local fourth grade students echoing on the campus of the Highlands Center. It is also the time that applications are accepted for the Center’s docent training program. Training for the fourth grade school program starts at the end of August and classes begin visiting the Center in early September. Prerequisites for becoming a docent at the Highlands Center are simple but key to success – for the children, the docents, and the Center: a love of nature and a love of children. If you meet these two requirements, we would love to talk with you.

Training dates: August 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Docents are then scheduled for one morning each week during the months of September and October to teach the hands-on, outdoor program. The students grow by “Being able to put their classroom learning to work in nature. . . “ Sharon Zimmer, Lincoln Elementary School. “I love coming to the Highlands Center! It reinforces all I attempt to teach at school. This field trip will always be #1 on my list . . . “ Terry Andress, Coyote Springs Elementary School. “The children are able to connect their ‘head learning’ with things they can see, touch, smell, then go back home and tell someone else about it. This makes learning come full circle. They go from a passive learner to an active one and feel the difference” Therese Yslas, Sacred Heart School.

Please contact Education Director, Fiona Reid at 776-9550 for more information and an application form.