Fernbank is honored to be the first museum in the world to formalize this level of partnership with Roots & Shoots, recognizing Fernbank’s commitment to empowering curiosity, innovation and science education. Founded in 1991, Roots & Shoots provides resources and encouragement for young people all over the world to be able to act on issues they are passionate about. Roots and Shoot groups collaborate to solve a variety of problems ranging from increasing monarch habits by planting milkweed plants to addressing food insecurity by providing baked items to families in need. 

Fernbank Museum collaborated with the Roots & Shoots Basecamp Atlanta to recruit middle school students from DeKalb County to participate in this exciting new program. 

Director of Education at Fernbank Museum, Sarah Arnold, says “Both Fernbank and Roots & Shoots strive to empower people, giving them the confidence to make positive changes in their communities and the world, and this partnership will be a special opportunity for teens to do that.” 

Roots & Shoots is centered around the interconnections of plants, animals and the environment and how young people can do their part to become changemakers. Through the program, participants learn valuable skills. Hands-on work and strategic problem-solving allow them to identify local issues. Roots & Shoots groups select and implement service projects to address those issues and work towards making positive changes in the community and a greater world around them. This program connects closely with Fernbank’s mission to ignite a passion for science, nature and human culture through exploration and discovery. 

 

Students in the Roots & Shoots program at Fernbank have chosen to focus on the theme of environmental conservation for their first project: revitalizing Fernbank’s Rain Garden. They plan to achieve this by removing debris, adding new stones and planting native species in this area. 

 

Rain gardens are dry streambeds designed to capture rainwater and runoff from surfaces that water cannot penetrate and allow the water to be filtered and slowly absorbed into the ground. This work will have a lasting impact on the ecological health of Fernbank’s campus and the ecosystem in our shared community. 

Fernbank is still seeking Dekalb County middle school students to join the Roots & Shoots student group. The group meets monthly to work on the project and discuss how to make a positive impact through this project and in their community using Roots and Shoots compassionate traits that includes empathy, introspection and more. 

For more information or to join the group, please click here. 

This project is made possible by the support of Dekalb County Commissioner Ted Terry.