Pollinator Star Program

Make a Difference

Donate now to our classroom field trip program

Help bring the children to the garden to experience the world of nature

Your Help

Provide help to our title one and bubble schools in need of programs
to help meet STEM requirements and develop these students
as stewards of the future.

The Need

Our title one and bubble schools here in Washoe County are underfunded and often cannot afford extra-curricular programs that can assist the schools in meeting STEM requirements. This fund will help the society to continue to fund our Pollinator Star Program and Pollinator Star Field Trips.

The Program

The Pollinator Star Program is a comprehensive program taught to third grade students where our education coordinators will go out to approved schools to teach.

The Funds

The funds will help to cover supplies needed for the classroom and provide reimbursement for bus transportation to and from the local school to the arboretum. For our Pollinator Star Field Trips, the funds will help cover the cost of activities and supplies needed for activities done during their trip to the arboretum.

Powering Minds

By giving a gift to the May Arboretum Society this coming Giving Tuesday, you are helping to power the minds of our children about the vital role plants play within our ecosystem.

Why We Made This Program

The Pollinator Star Program exists to reach students of Washoe County with fundamental, hands-on pollinator education. The Program intends to help local teachers meet critical Nevada state science learning objectives through pivotal experiences delivered to their classroom.

Program Outline

January, February, March
ln the months of January, February, and March, an educator will visit the classroom to lead a hands-on lesson with students for approximately 1.5 hours.

April
ln the month of April, students will visit the Arboretum for a tour, activity, and craft.

May
ln the month of May, the educator will return to the classroom to plant native flowers at the school and host a celebration that designates each student as a Pollinator Star.

Learning Objectives

The Pollinator Star Program is a semester long commitment, with a target audience of 3rd grade classrooms. Here is what teachers would receive:

Further, the program aims to provide meaningful learning experiences to help address and achieve the following learning objectives:

3-LS1-1 Plant and Animal Life Cycles
Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common; birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

3-LS4-3 Habitat and Organism Survival
Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

3-LS4-4 Environmental Changes
Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

Field Trips

The May Arboretum Society seeks to provide high quality, hands on field trips to the students of Washoe County. These field trips will educate students on the topic of pollination within the context of Nevada state science learning objectives through pivotal experiences delivered to their classroom.

What to Expect

Field trips are available in April and May.

The May Arboretum can accommodate up to 80 students per trip. Field trips are available Mondays and Fridays and Last approximately 2 hours, with the option to extend for an on site picnic or visit to the May Museum.

At each field trip, teachers can expect:

A tour of the main gardens of the arboretum.
Grade appropriate hands on activities such as crafts, games, scientific demonstrations, and more!
Individualized curriculum coordination with the staff educator to ensure grade level objectives are met.
Participants from WCSD will also receive a complimentary nature exploration backpack for each student.