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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2008
CONTACT
Leeann Lavin: 718-623-7289, leeannlavin@bbg.org
Kate Blumm: 718-623-7241, kateblumm@bbg.org
NYC Parks & Recreation Master Gardener Training Program Graduation Ceremony Held at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn, NY—June 13, 2008—Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) marked the seventh year of its Master Gardener Training Program for New York City (NYC) Parks & Recreation employees with a graduation ceremony at the Garden's A.T. White Memorial on Friday, June 13. Offered through the Garden's Continuing Education department, BBG's expert horticulture and education staff annually lead a six-month program featuring classes in horticultural science, botany and other topics. Twenty-five NYC Parks & Recreation employees—the largest graduating class ever— received a certificate at the graduation ceremony, presided over by NYC Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Deputy Director of Forestry and Horticulture Bram Gunther, BBG president Scot Medbury, and BBG vice president of education Sharon Myrie.
Commissioner Benepe said, "The Master Gardener Training Program is a crucial element in ensuring the continued vitality of our City's parks and open spaces. Horticultural training not only improves individual skills, but improves the quality of our parks—and our City's quality of life," said Commissioner Benepe. "We are very proud to continue this successful collaboration with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The Garden's expertise accumulated over their nearly 100 years is again reaching beyond its borders to help beautify the public spaces of New York."
Since the Master Gardener Training Program first launched in 2001, there have been a total of 132 Master Gardener graduates. The curriculum was devised to teach the graduates how to, in turn, educate their peers. In addition, there have been 13 alumni who have completed an advanced training course in urban landscape design.
The Master Gardener graduates have sharpened their skills in over 90 hours of training at BBG with expert instructors, developing skills in Botany for Horticulturists, Horticulture Basics, Flower Gardening, Urban Tree and Shrub Care, Soil Management, Landscape Pests and Diseases, and Weed Identification and Control, as well as selecting the Right Plant for the Right Place.
Scot Medbury, president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden remarked, "We are all committed to transforming New York into a greener city, and nobody is more important in that effort than individual gardeners and caretakers of our urban green spaces. We are honored to share our passion for plants with the participants in the Master Gardener Training Program. As the students learn from hands-on instruction by BBG experts, the instructors learn from their students, too, by discussing how the skills employed here at the Garden find new applications in diverse park settings across the five boroughs."
In addition to the Garden's extensive education programs for adults and children, integral parts of Brooklyn Botanic Garden's mission include scientific research and the horticultural display.