[Community-service] getting steered away from a service opportunity.

[Tara Chavez]

Darrian,
Wow! I don't buy their excuses either! I'm not surprised they said all
of this to you though...:( Anyway, I agree with the others. Don't let
this defeat you. you are just as capable of crowd control as any
sighted person and you can memorize just as well as anyone else too.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Tara


On 2/13/14, Corina Salinas <corina.d.salinas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Sarian,
>
> This event sounds like a ton of fun but perhaps making a scavenger hunt
> game out of it would both help with keeping track of students and also
> allowing for the students to be active. The volunteers could be given a
> list of plants to find with a description and the students could guide the
> volunteer to where they found it so they can check it off the list. I think
> making it a game would be more organized and keep the students interested.
>
> On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, Catherine Michele Mitchell <
> michmitch66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Darian, I'm not buying their excuses.
>>
>> First of all, it seems ridiculous to me to say you can't touch the
>> plants.
>> Somebody has to touch the plants to keep them alive, so even though I
>> don't
>> see any need for you to touch the plants necessarily, that statement just
>> seems ludicrous to me.
>>
>> Next, I'm sure if they don't throw in a new docent and have them wing it
>> as they go along. There must be some kind of training, probably even a
>> script about each section of plants that every docent has to memorize.
>> Can
>> they possibly think that a blind person is incapable of memorizing some
>> plant facts? Also, former docents can easily tell you which plants kids
>> usually have questions about so you can be prepared for this. I imagine
>> it's more likely that during your presentation you would be asking the
>> kids
>> questions, like okay who knows what this is called? Or whatever. It's
>> more
>> likely that you will be fielding questions from the kids like hey Mr. if
>> you're blind how do you know where you are? How do you know which plants
>> to
>> talk about? What's that stick for? Or whatever.
>>
>> Regarding kitty crowd control, I don't really think that's as much the
>> docents responsibility as it is the responsibility of the adults
>> chaperoning the groups of kids. Don't they usually come in from schools
>> with their teachers? Shirley there aren't random groups of Unruly,
>> Unsupervised children storming the botanical gardens demanding tours. You
>> are an adult, and if you tell a group of children  to Stay together,
>>  follow you, and quiet down, would they be any less likely to listen to
>> you
>> than any other adult? I don't see the problem. Besides, my bet is that
>> those kids will never Take their eyes off you. They'll be watching you
>> like
>> a hawk to see how you do everything.
>>
>> I'm assuming there are pass through the garden, and, with a little
>> orientation training and a little practice, you could easily learn the
>> route of the tour, where to stop and talk, and what to talk about at each
>> station. Who knows, there may even be auditory clues, such as fountains
>> or
>> street noise, to help you Stay on track. I'm also assuming that at least
>> some of these plants emit an aroma, so after a while you'll probably be
>> able to just follow your nose. This is something the botanical bosses
>> probably haven't considered, that the appeal of the garden is more than
>> just visual.
>>
>> So there's my rant. I'm looking forward to hearing other peoples ideas.
>>
>> Boo, for the botanical bozos! I think you'd be great at this job; those
>> Ignorant folks are missing out!
>>
>> Michele
>>
>>
>>
>> Michele Mitchell
>> Tupperware Consultant
>> 781-790-3627
>> www.my.tupperware.com/michmitch
>>
>> On Feb 11, 2014, at 3:15 AM, Darian Smith
>> <dsmithnfb at gmail.com<javascript:;>>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > I recently was  told about volunteer/ service opportunities at the
>> > local
>> botanical garden. one that particularly interested me was one of a
>> children's docent.  When I asked about the position, i was told that  it
>> would be difficult because you can't touch the flowers, and the children
>> are going to have questions about the particular  plants they find.  Also
>>  that one needs to keep up with the children, and they will be running
>> around, that you have to basically Herd them around.
>> > Basically, I was told of all of the ways that I could not do the job.
>> >  how would you  devise non-visual ways to  do the job?  how would you
>> approach a volunteerr coordinator when they present  these challenges?
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance,
>> >   Darian
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>
>
> --
> Corina Salinas
> NFB Community Service, Fundraising Committee Chairperson
> Texas Association of Blind Students, Fundraising Committee Chairperson
> corina.d.salinas at gmail.com
> (281)-745-7576
>