BGO's Final ABF
This year ABF’s Kids and Bees 2023 was in Jacksonville, Florida. We had over 300 local kids and over 100 adults join us to learn all about bees. There were 26 educational stations, staffed by over 50 volunteer beekeepers.
Kids learned about everything from honey to beeswax to pollination to farming to bee anatomy. They even learned about some of the 4,000 species of native bees we have here in the US. We also throw in some fun stuff like headbands, face painting, and finger puppets. Even those stations have learning components like - why do bees have stripes? How many eyes do they have? And what are their antennae for?The event is designed to hit Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for 3rd and 4th grades, and is set up with the model of experiential education in mind.
The kids had a great time - thank you to the local 4-H, Manuka Health USA, University of Florida Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, GloryBee, MannLake, The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, the Sharkey Foundation, and all of the local beekeeping associations for partnering up for this event and making it so RAD!!
This was my 10th year as ABF Kids and Bees Director, and I'm excited to announce that it was also my last. I have loved working with ABF and have loved pulling off this massive event for local kids all over the country, but it's time to transition the program to another passionate educator.
Leading up to my decision, I have been reflecting back to the highlights over the years. My first “ABF Kids ‘n’ Bees” event was in Hersey, PA, in 2013. This was a collaborative event with the “Bee Lady,” Kim Lehman, who founded the program and ran it for 18 years. Fueled by giant candy bars that were left on my pillow every night at turndown - I had big visions for where I wanted to take this program.
Over the last decade - with the support of the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, the connections from the American Beekeeping Federation, and the backing of the Bee Girl organization (BGO)’s donors, staff, board of directors, and partners I was able to travel the globe – teaching kids all about bees and the need for biodiverse ecosystems to keep them alive and thriving.
Highlights have been -
· Collaborating with the Eastern Apicultural Society to run a dual kids’ “Beekeeping Academy” and “Train the Teacher” workshops,
· Designing an educational bee game for Minecraft: Education Edition, which was translated into 7 languages and played in over 100 countries,
· Creating curriculum with brilliant British Beekeeper Association educators from across the UK which lead to a visit to the Ashbrow School in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, where I observed teachers utilizing beehives, gardening, and raising hens to teach their students math, science, history, and writing. While there, I also had the pleasure of giving a presentation to 300 adorable tiny Yorkshire kids in very sharp school uniforms,
· Traveling to Tanzania, Africa, to mentor educators and teach students about the importance of coexisting with bees and other wildlife,
· Partnering with the Montana Farmers Union to run a “beekeeping camp” at their summer camps – teaching young farmers from 9 to 19 the importance of bees in farming,
· And of course, the BIG events “ABF Kids and Bees” – Reaching hundreds of local kids (and their teachers and parents) in the communities that the ABF conference traveled to: Baton Rouge, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Reno, Chicago, Myrtle Beach, and so many more.
I certainly have many memories to treasure and will miss spending my days in classrooms and convention centers.
There are many reasons for this decision, but the primary one is that myself and my organization only have so much capacity. Myself and my staff are up to our ears in other projects for 2023 and bee-yond. There was a big shift for us during the pandemic. Unable to travel to schools and events, we ramped up the research and conservation projects at BGO.
Going forward, we will be primarily focused on our habitat conservation, regeneration, education, and research work. And of course there will be a kids' education component in these programs!! Though I won’t be coordinating large events for ABF anymore, I am so excited to continue to dream up ways to educate and inspire kids to love our bees, and to equip other educators with the tools they need to do the same.
We are currently hard at work writing version two of our guidebook, which will be available later this year. I’m pouring everything I know from over 10 years of teaching kids about bees into this version, and have invited BGO staff to add their expertise, as well.
Just for clarity’s sake, BGO will be re-naming our kids’ program, “Kids Love Bees.”
To ABF, the Foundation, and our immeasurable list of partner organizations, sponsors, and volunteers - thank you for all of your support over the years, I love being a part of the ABF hive, I’m excited to see what’s next for ABF and BGO, and I’m especially excited to be able to join ABF as an attendee and enjoy all of the social opportunities with my beeks!