Reflection Riding has been busy throughout the late summer and fall seasons, and our apprenticeship program has been just as active! Our apprentice and pre-apprentices have supported daily operations and special events while making time for professional development and one-on-one mentorship.
Once the school year began, our pre-apprentices transitioned to a weekend-only schedule. In mid-August, they assisted our Nursery Staff in preparing for the opening of our Sales Floors on August 22. Their responsibilities included moving plants onto the sales floors, weeding, watering, and updating our plant inventory. Once our sale floors opened, they helped check out customers using our Square point-of-sale system and devices, as well as restocking inventory as needed.
The nursery team has also encouraged the students to take on a project of their own: designing, planting, and maintaining a native plant garden. The garden is located next to our newly renovated shed-turned-office space. Because the area is sloped, the students had to consider several factors when designing their garden, including sunlight exposure, companion planting, and the site’s overall conditions. We are excited to watch their garden grow and see how their hard work comes together!
Through our partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters, all of our pre-apprentices and apprentices have been matched with mentors. Their mentors, or “Bigs,” meet with them once or twice a month during their working hours. This one-on-one mentorship provides students with valuable relationships with trusted adults and opportunities to build confidence, communication skills, and personal connections.
During their time together, students have the opportunity to discuss career and personal goals while working on projects, going for a walk or run, or playing a competitive game of Yahtzee!
Most recently, several of their mentors joined us for the EPB Free Tree Giveaway Day. Having extra hands for event support was wonderful, but having the mentors be able to spend several hours with their Littles was very meaningful. Yoni and his mentor, Brett, helped with parking and directing guests to the free trees. Janett and her mentor assisted guests in the tree area by providing information about available trees and helping them navigate checkout before heading to our nursery sales floors. Maria and her mentor helped at the children's activity table alongside Tamara, our AmeriCorps Environmental Education and Engagement staff member.
Our other students got to work with year-round staff that day; Jahore worked alongside Conlan, our Naturalist Nursery Assistant, at the off-site giveaway at the Brainerd Farmers Market. They distributed all the trees they brought with them within the first hour! Blandy, with Nursery Manager Hannah, assisted guests with plant purchases and checkout at our checkout shed. It was amazing to see mentors, students, staff, and volunteers distribute free trees into the community.
We have also partnered with BuildWithin and Apprenticeship Works Chattanooga to establish a credentialed Registered Apprenticeship program. We are currently working with Jahore, our first official apprentice, as he transitions into this new role.
As part of this partnership, students must complete online learning modules that are part of the Conservation Specialist Pathway. To help make this possible, Tech Goes Home through The Enterprise Center, is providing students with laptops after they complete 15 hours of computer literacy training. These laptops will be theirs to keep and use for school and/or work. Students began their computer literacy training on October 10 and have been completing three-hour training sessions in between event support, and other program projects.
One of the first projects the students supported this fall was clearing out one of our currently unused wolf habitats in our Wildlife area. They removed invasive plant species including privet, vinca, winter creeper, and pokeweed stalks. They also cleared debris, fallen branches, to open up the space for our red wolves. This work was completed in preparation for moving our wolves, Colbert and Sienna, from their back habitat to a more forward-facing habitat where guests will have a better opportunity to see them.
We appreciate the students’ willingness to jump in wherever they are needed and support conservation efforts throughout our community even when the weather does not cooperate.
Another ongoing apprenticeship-specific is the management and maintenance of our Playscapes. Recently, we have had a lot of tree work done, some of which the students helped with over the summer.
During the summer months, the students worked in our upper meadow, cutting down sweet gum saplings that had begun to overtake the meadows. Our long-term plan is to maintain this space as a grassland/meadow habitat. The pre-apprentices and apprentice worked alongside our Land Conversation team to cut and pile the saplings so they could be chipped into mulch this fall. Now that fall has arrived, the students are putting that mulch to use in our playscapes and along the surrounding trails.
As campfire concert season comes to a close, the students will have more opportunities to focus on completing computer literacy training hours and continue through the Conservation Specialist online modules. They will also continue supporting the nursery team as the seasonal sales floor winds down for the year. In addition, they will work on gathering and preparing natural materials for our playscapes, including branches, bamboo pieces, and other materials that encourage imaginative, nature-based play.
It has been a busy and rewarding season and we are proud of the students' continued growth, dedication, and willingness to support Reflection Riding's many programs and conservation efforts. Their contributions have made a meaningful difference throughout these past few months, and we look forward to seeing what they accomplish next!
