Garden Explorers Celebration
Our Garden Explorers Early Childhood Education program has been busy wrapping up a busy year of seasonal trainings and distributing plants and seeds to early childhood educators.
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make the Garden Explorers Celebration at Lotusland such a success! Nearly 100 early childhood educators, principals, superintendents, administrators, and special guests joined Garden Explorers Coordinator Stephanie Soicher and the Explore Ecology team for an inspiring day of learning and connection.
Guests spent the day participating in early childhood learning experiences and exploring the breathtaking gardens – each moment was designed to spark curiosity and joy! Attendees also got to hear directly from experienced teachers about the powerful impact the program is having in their classrooms.
It was a beautiful day of connection, discovery, and collaboration. Special thanks to The Audacious Foundation for helping us grow a love of nature and learning in our youngest students.
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson
