Recycling at it's best!

After the A.S.U. tour the teens came back to the DBG to make candles from the leftover votive candles that we use in our Luminaria bags. The teens were taught the special techniques of candle making in preformed molds and in boxes filled with sand that they could make their own molds in....we had many shapes and sizes! This was a great project that the teens can't wait to do again. We are thrilled to be recycling the wax instead of throwing it into the landfill.

A.S.U. Arboretum Tour for the TEENs

This past Saturday Dec. 12th the TEENs toured the A.S.U. Campus and learned about the many different kinds of plants that are on the campus. They sampled herbs from the herb garden, got tricked into eating sour oranges and picked lemonquates. They toured the secret garden...which I can't really tell you about because...it's a secret. A highlight of the tour was seeing a 20 foot tall banana tree (really an herb not a true "tree") with bananas forming on the flower stalk. Again, another great day.

More Service Work from the TEENs!

Last Sunday the TEEN group volunteered five hours at the Sonoran Desert National Monument, near Goodyear, AZ picking up trash and removing existing roads. The land has been closed to the public for over a year now, so that it can be healed from overuse and returned to a pristine state. It was a beautiful morning as it had rained the night before. We had 15 teens attend and really made some good progress. We encourage anyone to visit the Monument once it re-opens to the public next year.

Chiles and Chocolates

Today, (last weekend!) the TEENs did a variety of jobs from making tootsie roll necklaces to painting our TEEN garden wagons. Sammy Saguaro also made a guest apperance, and even though he was armless he still made the kids and adults smile. There was plenty of chilie inspired treats to try and of course..... chocolate! Overall, it was a good day and we got alot accomplished.

Rafting the Salt! 11/7/09

This past Saturday 13 of our TEEN volunteers enjoyed a beautiful day floating down the Salt River. This was just a fun day trip to get together and enjoy some amazing Arizona scenery. The weather was great, the water was pretty warm, and the views were amazing.

Dia de los Muertos! Whoo!

Today was an awesome day for the TEENs! We had Matt, Hailey, Nick, Sydney, and a bunch of new TEENs that helped out today. The day involved lots and lots of crafts - And kids. We had some cultural music to rock out to and tons of people in masks and costumes. There were kids dressed up in costumes with their faces painted and the day went by smoothly. The altar looked beautiful (Look at the picture above! Taken by Syd. ) and it was a wonderful day all together. Next Saturday is the rafting trip and we hope to see everyone there!

TEENs in Training....& a little work!

October has been a busy month for the TEENS. We've had about 15 new teens join the group which means training, mentoring, and showing them the "ropes". It's great to have more teen volunteers especially with our busy month ahead filled with festivals and other activites. In additon to training the new teens, we've also worked on Lumi bag set up for a Garden wedding and made some really cute pumpkin Lumi jars for the October Festivals. The Desert Vista Key Club helped us with this craft as well and did an outstanding job!

Scavenger Hunt - TEEN Meeting & Party

We had a great day this past Sunday planning our fall activites, eating candy, and then having out 1st annual Scavenger Hunt! The winning team recieved a dancing gopher trophy...what more could they want? The teams had to take photos of various activites in the Garden, such as playing ring around the rosie, wearing aprons and big hats, cartwheels in the bus loading zone as well as taking photos of certain plants in the Garden. It was a good day!

Planning a Park

Last weekend the TEENS were busy helping out with Teacher Open House and working on our Hassayampa Park Design. They spent 4 hours brainstorming ideas for the overall design and came up with some specific ideas for signage, discovery stations, and a possible observation deck for bird watching. They accomplished a lot and still managed to assist with those Teachers!

Day Trip to Hassayampa River Preserve!

The TEENs took their second trip to Wickenburg to finish the Hassayampa Nature Park plant survey last Saturday, September 29th. Well, it was a little hot, but we did just fine. We started early (but, still made time for a quick Krispy Creme stop), took lots of water, stayed in the shade and made sure that we were indoors by noon. We managed to take a few more plant samples, get more pictures, startle a beautiful owl, and this time we visited the Wickenburg Museum and the Hassayampa River Preserve. The Hassayampa, or "the river that flows upside down", runs underground with portions that seap above ground providing a beautiful habitat for more than 270 species of birds, mammals, and unique plant species such as, the Fremont Cottonwood and Goodding Willow, considered one of the rarest and most threatened forests in North America. It was a great day trip and now we are ready to use our information collected to start designing the actual park.

Hassayampa Nature Park - Wickenburg AZ

The DBG TEEN group has offered to help The Nature Conservancy plan and design their Community Nature Park on their newly aquired 33 acres. The TEENS started with conducting a plant survey, including all native and non-native plants. They are taking samples, putting them in a press, writing descriptions, plant names and taking location readings with a GPS. This will be done over two weekends. They will then brainstorm ideas for possible nature discovery stations, interpretive signage, and actually design the park with the hiking trails, horse trails, restrooms, and a entry kiosk. They are working hard on this project, so stay posted for updates and more detailed information soon.

Summer Fun!

Just a few fun photos of those crazy TEENs helping and (playing) at Eco Camp.

TEEN Recycling Center Trip

The DBG TEENS visited the Recycling Transfer Station in North Phoenix last month. We were not really sure as to what to expect, but I think that we were all surprised at what we saw, lots and lots of stuff! Stuff that would have gone to a landfill years ago but now that stuff is being recycled into new drinking bottles, faux lumber to make benches and picnic tables, new paper and paper products, etc. They actually dump everything onto fast moving conveyor belts and employees hand sort everything by hand....they were quite talented! Paper is the number one recycled material and over 300 tons of recycled items are sorted and packed up each day. We definitley saw community progress that day!

Field Trip! July 31st to the new Phoenix Recycling Center

All TEEN pilot memebers are invited to attend the field trip to the Phoenix Recycling Center next friday, July 31st from 9am until 1pm. This is a new facility and tours are only given during the week, so summer is our only chance to visit this center. I'm sure that this will be a great field trip and will increase our awareness of the importance of the three R's - Reduce, Recycle, & Reuse. Please let me know by July27th if you can attend.

Top 5 Best and Worst Moments of the TEEN's Summer Days Program!

These are the top 5 best...and WORST moments of the Summer Days program.

Best:
5.Getting to name the new snake...Hannah Montana!
4.Making and enjoying our homemade breakfast with farm fresh veggies and eggs.
3.Seeing Nancy in a life-size frog suit.
2.Finally getting to ride on an eletric cart to gather mesquite beans.
1. Alexander in his red, white, and blue plaid capris.


Worst:
5.Trying to catch one frog in the summer heat...for three hours.
4.Making crazy and cute snacks for the Eco-Campers.
3.Giving the TEENs big knives to cut watermelon.
2.Bri getting a quadrillion cactus spines stuck in her hands.
1.Saying good-bye on the very last day.


So that's the top 5 best, and worst moments the TEENs have had during this year's summer days program.
Thanks for making it so much fun!

-By Sydney(TEEN) and Susan (TEEN Coordinator)

Last Day Helping with Summer Camp!

We started the day picking Saguaro fruit for the docents to use on their tours. We got to taste the fruit of the Prickly Pear and Saguaro, which both tasted like watermelon. Then onto making snack for the kids in camp...then onto cleaning the dishes from camp. Alexander and Marcus brought in their homegrown veggies again for us to sell to the staff....we made $21.00 for our end of the summer pizza party! We had pineapple and sasuage pizza, and ordered cinni-sticks too. They tasted really good, but Susan didn't think they were worth it. But they were. We saw Jessica and talked to her for a while. It was good to see her again, but we still love Susan with all our hearts.
-Written By Sydney and Susan (TEEN and TEEN Coordinator)

Odd Jobs

Today was a day for ( gross ) odd jobs. Everything from building wooden puzzles to decorating offices! Bri was VERY proud of herself because she completed an entire dinosaur model by herself ( and she only broke about 8 nails! ). Marcus also put together a wooden penguin in NO time. Later in the day Alex, Bri and Marcus had to clean the Etnobotany fridge ( ewwwwwwwwww! ) it wasn't that bad until we discovered the dead animals that looked like something out of a Horror Movie! We also went to Tempe Town Market Place on a feild trip to go and get crikets for Eco Camp. It was fun and on the way home we discussed how excited "the teens" will be when we can drive ( look out world! ) We thought that today couldn't get any more strange, but it did when Tina Wilson, Acting Director of Education, asked us to help her rearrange/decorate her office. That task involved three feather boas, two bookshelves, one HEAVY wardrobe, and three creative imaginations! Anyway today was...interesting.
Posted By: Bri ( TEEN )

Plant Collecting with Raul

Today we worked with Raul Puente, the Curator of Living Collections at the Garden. We went down to the wash onsite and took plant samples of the native trees and shrubs. We took these samples and pressed them in a simple plant press made of cardboard sheets and newspaper. These were strapped down by two wooden pallets and cloth straps. In a few days, these specimens will be dried and ready for mounting. They will be mounted on special acid free paper so that they can be preserved for years, in some cases hundereds of years. Our names will be on the paper as well to show that these were made by the TEENs.
Posted By: Sydney ( TEEN )

Welcome!

Hi, Welcome to the TEEN blog. Here you will find listings of up and coming volunteer opportunities. Also the Latest info on what is happening around the Garden. Please feel free to contact the Teen Coordinator if you have any questions.