The Wrack

In recent years, we've been excited to see a rise in the number of students visiting the Wells Reserve to participate in guided and self-guided programs. Last year, I wrote about how remarkable the increase was between 2013 and 2014, and this year the trend continued steadily. In 2015, our skilled team of volunteer docents led a total of 1,291 students on guided program on our estuarine trails, up slightly from last year's 1,219. Additionally, 533 students visited the Reserve with their teachers to explore the estuary on self-guided trips, up from 435 in 2014.

While the increases are not the giant leaps they were from the previous year, 2015 saw a significant shift in the ratio of docent leaders to students thanks to a cohort of new docents who attended our successful Volunteer Fair back in February. With more leaders, we were able to lead students in smaller groups, allowing for more individualized discovery and time to explore all of their curious questions!

The numbers are great to see, but until this year we were missing an opportunity to tell another story about our reach: where in the world are all of these students coming from (literally!)? Here's part of the answer:

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 8/17/2014.

Around the time I was twelve, I went through what my parents called “the Indiana Jones stage.” I wore an officially licensed brown fedora, carried a homemade clothesline “bullwhip,” and definitely expected to be an archaeologist when I grew up. I even talked my way into a field expedition to the Caribbean island of Grenada, though I was two years short of their minimum age requirement. Rules didn’t matter – in search of lost tribes, buried treasure, even whip-cracking adventure, I dreamt only of piercing the jungle’s dark heart. Cue the trumpets!

A group of our dedicated summer docents gathered this afternoon to celebrate a successful summer program season. These amazing volunteer naturalists braved the heat, humidity, and swarms of mosquitos to lead our 20 scheduled summer guided walks throughout the season with enthusiasm and expertise. While one guided walk still remain…

This summer the Wells Reserve's Interpretive Education Associate, Paige Rutherford, revamped and restructured the Guided Tours program for the season. Paige prepared all the docent training materials, organized outlines, templates, scripts, and resources, and held training sessions in late June.

The newly trained volunteers will be leading History of a Saltwater Farm, Life Between the Tides, Secrets of the Salt Marsh, and Nature Walk tours as well as other guided tours throughout the summer!