Education Compass Advisory Team

Do you have experience working in education, agricultural programs, special education, or garden-to-table demonstrations? Would like to give back to your community to help Prescott Farm enhance our current programs? Then the Education Compass Advisory Team is the right fit for you!

The Education Compass Advisory Team (CAT) includes community members who share a commitment to Prescott Farm’s mission and volunteer their time and expertise in an advisory capacity. The team is primarily tasked with helping to navigate a sustainable future for Prescott Farm by focusing on enhancing our current programs and creating new educational opportunities for the community all while staying on mission. Education CAT members are trusted advisors to Prescott Farm and ambassadors of Prescott Farm in the greater Lakes Region community. Team members are expected to provide professional expertise, insights, and guidance to the organization. In addition, members may connect community members and businesses to the work of the organization to help raise visibility and build ongoing support for Prescott Farm’s programs.

The current goals of the Education CAT include:

• Creating more program opportunities
• Making our programs more accessible
• Being practice participants for our field trip programs
• Putting up new wayfinding and educational signage around the property

Team members may participate in any or all the following ways to help attain the educational goals of Prescott Farm, depending on interest, expertise, and comfort level:

Field Trips:

o Participate in training for new field teachers and provide constructive feedback.

o Analyze data from school field trip participants about their reasons for choosing Prescott Farm for their field trip, what time of the year is best for field trips, and other relevant data determined by the Camp and School-Age Programs Director.

Signage:

o Participate in wayfinding and interpretive signage planning and identifying signage needs and opportunities.

Programs:

o Identify emerging trends or bring information about successful programs offered at other Nature Centers that are on mission for Prescott Farm.

o Create and help organize new community programs. This may include but is not limited to a Speaker Series and a Book Club.

• Speaker Series: Tasks may include creating a list of topics that are on mission and identifying experts on the topic who might be invited to Prescott Farm.
• Book Club: Tasks may include recruiting new members to join, selecting fiction/nonfiction books on mission for the club to read and discuss, and developing discussion questions for book club meetings.

Accessibility:

o Develop strategies for making Field Trips, Community Connection, Camp, and Preschool Programs accessible to everyone at Prescott Farm.

Time Needed:

Commitment: 2 years

Time Required:

• Initial Discovery Tour (if not yet attended) of one hour.
• One-hour orientation and training
• Bi-monthly (6 per year) team meetings of 1-2 hours
• Additional volunteer projects may require additional time.