Miami, FL | Columbia, SC
Terra’s Cindy Tyler continued her long-term attendance at the APGA Annual Conference and the AHS National Children & Youth Garden Symposium with two exciting conference presentations.
For the 2016 APGA Annual Conference, held in Miami, Cindy learned the art of the Pecha Kucha presentation alongside colleagues from small, university and large gardens. Their “Ramped Up, Rapid Fire” session showcased design success stories in the lively yet focused Pecha Kucha format, where each presenter must work within a 20-slide format that automatically advances after just 20 seconds per slide.
Half the fun was in the practice sessions before-hand. Cindy and co-moderator Bob Brackman from San Antonio Botanical Garden were able to catch up with Michelle Conklin from Tucson Botanical Gardens, Debby Edelman from Lewis and Clark Community College, Kathy Gilder from Huntsville Botanical Garden, Clem Hamilton from The Holden Arboretum, Stephanie Jutila from Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, Patrick Larkin from Cheekwood Botanical Garden, and Scott Scarfone from Oasis Design Group as everyone learned how to transform such a concise format into an engaging and memorable story.
And though Cindy has presented at the NCYGS conference for 11 years, this year’s presentation was particularly meaningful because its topic is the driving force behind why she founded Terra. In “PA Pride: Innovations in K-12 Environmentally Conscious Programming” Cindy joined Steve Cooper from the Winchester Thurston North elementary school and Carole Wright from Valley School of Ligonier to discuss the increasing importance of getting kids outside and in touch with nature, particularly in a learning environment. Steve and Carole presented case studies on their outdoor classrooms within schools where academic rigor is the standard, while Cindy presented an overview of Terra’s Garden of Make-Believe at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, including the design for one of the nation’s first ASD Sensory Gardens in a woodland setting!