Published April 18, 2024
Volunteer spotlight: Miamisburg High School vocational block program
MetroParks’ volunteers are all ages, have many interests and volunteer as individuals or in groups. Perhaps one of the most impactful volunteers MetroParks staff work with are students – the future stewards of the regions’ greenspaces.
Meet the Vocational Block Program class of 2023-2024 at Miamisburg High School. This dedicated group of students volunteers in the gardens at Cox Arboretum MetroPark throughout the school year. Today, these students are volunteering in the gardens at Cox Arboretum MetroPark, but they are learning skills they can use in the future.
“Volunteering at Cox Arboretum gives students fresh air and a sense of accomplishment, along with opportunities to learn about nature in person and learn and practice skills in gardening and landscaping,” said program teacher Katie Grant.
In 2023, nine students and three staff members from the Vocational Block Program at Miamisburg High School completed 17 volunteer shifts at Cox Arboretum MetroPark, helping with such gardening and landscaping tasks as weeding garden beds and sowing vegetable seeds in the Maimon Memorial Garden.
“The Cox Arboretum staff are always so kind, welcoming, helpful, knowledgeable, patient and willing to teach and work with our students,” said Grant. “We are extremely grateful to be Cox volunteers!”
Students from this program have a long history of volunteering at Cox Arboretum MetroPark.
“I have been teaching in the Vocational Block Program at Miamisburg High School since 2012 and our group has been volunteering here since before I came into this program,” said Grant.
Interested in volunteering with a group? Learn more here.
