Tomlin Middle School Volunteer Day

On Wednesday, Sept 12, the BioWorks gardens received a huge help with our fall clean-up from the students of the Tomlin Middle School STEM program. 115 students and 15 teachers and chaperones arrived at 10 am sharp to spend a hot late summer morning working in the gardens… and boy, did they work! It’s amazing how fast three acres of summer weeds and overgrowth can be cleared when you’ve got so many hands on deck!

Throughout the morning, the students broke into smaller groups and tackled areas in both the butterfly garden and Historic Tree Grove. They cleared Spanish Needle and skunk vine, uprooted sneaky grasses and other weeds, and pulled beach sunflower past its prime. They helped remove the piles of waste to compost piles in the back woods, and chopped down and stumped out an old dead lemon tree that we’ve been meaning to get rid of for years! In just a few hours, they helped do work that would otherwise have taken garden staff (all two of us) weeks to accomplish.

In return, the students received the opportunity to experience MOSI’s Ropes Course, spending an hour or so climbing to the heights. They also received a guided tour of the Butterfly Flight Encounter and then had some free time to visit the rest of the museum and grounds.

Tomlin Middle School is located in nearby Plant City. The 115 students who participated in this volunteer day event were 7th and 8th graders who participate in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program (learn more here). Our enthusiastic thanks to them, their teachers and chaperones, and especially Emily Petrilli, who arranged for and coordinated the day.