Foundation Helps Support Funding for New Fiddleheads Shelter
Fiddleheads instructor Sarah Heller teaching preschoolers in the Arboretum.
This fall, the Foundation secured $25,000 from an anonymous donor to support the funding for a new education shelter for the Fiddleheads Forest School. The Fiddleheads program immerses preschool children in nature through a series of planned outdoor educational activities. School classes take place all around the Arboretum, but are centered in the Forest Grove, just off Arboretum Drive and south of the Magnolia Collection.
The Forest Grove is ideally suited for an immersive nature preschool; however, the only existing “improvements” at the site are a circle of log benches and two green tarp awnings strung from trees for some minimal weather protection. The new shelter will allow for teaching in all weather conditions and create the first permanent outdoor educational venue within the Arboretum.
The UW Botanic Gardens had already identified $80,000 in funds for the new structure. The funding secured by the Foundation will enable to project to move ahead. Bob Hoshide of Hoshide Wanzer Williams is currently designing the shelter. Construction is expected to take place in summer 2015. The Foundation would like to express its thanks to our very generous donor!
