Letter to AOS

[Phantasm]

My first orchids were purchased when I was 20. I progressed from windowsills to florescent lights to a small greenhouse, then to a larger greenhouse over several years. I subscribed to AOS early on but didn't join an orchid society until I had grown plants for 20 years.

I decided to enter plants in an orchid show out of curiousity, I think it was 5 plants and 2 of them received HCC/AOS awards. That prompted the locals to ask me to join their society, so I did. A year later, I became President of the society and did so for 3 years.

Soon thereafter I got curious about the regional Judging and would attend just to see the procedures and interactions. Of course that led to being asked to become a judge and after 7 years I became accredited.

It's not over yet....Now I'm the Chair of the Judging Region and my ability to say no hasn't achieved any progress.

Just a short lesson in being interested in orchids at a young age! Over time, I have met and learned from several legends in the orchid world, and I cherish the friendships that have developed. It isn't an elite club, but a progression of a lifetime of curiousity and learning.

There is always more to learn, and the deeper you get, the more you realize how much you don't know!

[kiki-do]

Thanks for sharing that Phantasm! I have met some of the most interesting people due to my love of orchids.
Your last sentence is profoundly true! Amen to that.

[kagura]

I'm 18 going on 19 right now and have been fascinated with orchids since I was about 9 or 10. Been growing orchids when money permits since I was about 12. (God I love my mom for putting up with my addiction.) But A LOT of my friends wouldn't even give them a passing by. It's just like RoyalOrchids said a lot of younger people just don't have the patience to enjoy this great hobby. And a lot of younger people are the hurry it along kind. But I am proud to be a young orchid grower!

[Stefan]

hi everyone,
im 15 turning 16, and i started growing orchids when i was 13. i think it would be really good to get more young people interested in orchids, but there is that ideology and look on you, especially for young men, when you grow them. also, like someone eles mentioned, with the amount of homework, chores, and other things to do, young people want to hang out with there friends, not go looking for orchids, or caring for them. and i agree with Des, it seems you have to be born with a passion for gardening and flowers to really appreciate orchids.

stefan

[epiphyte78]

I'm a 30 year old male and I started trying to grow orchids in high school. My mother and grandfather were avid gardeners so I suppose I inherited my green thumb from them. My first botanical interest as a kid was in carnivorous plants which were "neat" because they ate bugs, followed by cacti and succulents which were "neat" because of the wide variety of weird shapes, followed by bonsais which were "neat" because they were small trees, followed by orchids which were "neat" because they grow on trees.

So in my case, and as others have already mentioned, it was an "easy sell" to make the transition to orchids from other plants. But most youngsters, green thumbs or not, have some level of curiosity about the unusual...the "neat" factor so to speak. On those occasions when young family members visit, they are infinitely more curious about the plants growing on branches than they are about the ones growing in pots.

Practically speaking, the AOS could create large educational posters, brochures, etc. specifically designed with students in mind and send the material to the various orchid societies. The orchid societies could set up the educational materials along with orchid trees at local botanical gardens and schools.

On a slightly different tangent...to put it delicately, I've found the AOS to be a less than useful resource for orchid information. Which is surprising given that information dissemination is supposedly one of their top missions. On the off chance they should happen to read this... here are a couple suggestions..

First, they should digitize and make available their orchid magazine articles...starting with their most recent (which should already be digitized) and working their way back. The digitized collection should be searchable and I would have no problem paying a dollar or two to download a pdf document of an interesting article.

Second, they should embrace and endorse Orchids Wiki or start their own wikipedia type website dedicated to orchids. The other day I read an interesting statistic that the Encyclopedia Britannica website receives 21 million hits per month while Wikipedia receives nearly 4 billion hits per month.

The information dissemination model of the AOS is obsolete and they should take cues from websites such as orchidculture.com and orchidspecies.com to become more relevant in our "information on demand" society.

[Darknessdancer]

I concur with the lack of young people... At least in my country. I live in Mexico and I've been going to some AMO (Mexican Orchideology Association) shows and i'm pretty sure i'm the youngest guy over there. Sometimes I feel awkward as i see that he youngest one must have at least 30...
I've introduced some of my friends to this very fascinating orchid world, but it kinda feels weird to be the youngest ones over there with a somewhat serious interest for 'chids.
About what Orchidphile said, i dont find it so hard due to social perception, but due to the lack of promotion that events recieve. Sometimes i think they can be very imited to the public they are aimed, since at least over here in my experience they are mostly announced to AMO members and one or two yahoo orchid groups. I think if they were more public focused it may help in bringing more young people to the world of orchids.

[Rhonda_in_FL]

Hello all!

I wanted to take a moment and revitalize this very important thread.

With resounding enthusiasm, the AOS has been listening to younger members across this board and through the network of societies. The president has restructured the organization's committees and education is a top priority. Believe it or not, the link to this thread has been hopping around the AOS loop and it was sent to me the other day. Of course, I thought it was sort of funny since I have a post on the thread shortly after it was up in the spring.

Ironically orchid friends, Carlos has asked me to be the new chairperson of the Education Committee. Who knew? It is a huge responsibility that, as I continue to think about the possibilities, becomes more exciting with the weeks.

Where are we right now? Gathering information from everywhere and anywhere. There are so many things on this thread that I've written down, but to give you an idea of what is going on I wanted to give you an update from the committee's point of view:

First, we've divided the scope of education into age levels. The AOS does not have an educational curriculum for children. Each member of the committee has volunteered to 'point' a different age level (K-2, 3-5, 6-9, high school, and adult ed.)

Second, network and collaborate with societies across the country to find out how they are promoting education. We're very interested in what is working with kids, with local botanical gardens, with societies.

Third, highlight young orchid growers and their passion for growing. Look at the AOS website and you'll see our first installment of that highlight--and more will follow on the website and in the magazine. As I reread this thread, it occured to me that 'young' is a relative term. We should also highlight young adults as well--what was I thinking? I know I'm on the young end of my society's age range at 42. The demographic for orchid growers has certainly changed over the past 50 years--we need to keep that in mind when organizing magazine articles, etc.

Like I said, there are a million things that could be done. The committee is listening--what would you do if you were in my position?? That is a genuine invitation. Feel free to either post your ideas here or PM me on the forum.

Thanks again for getting the conversation moving. I want to know what you (and/or your society) are doing to support education. What can we do?

Rhonda Heide, Chairperson
AOS Education Committee

[tuvoc]

Thanks for reopening this thread, Rhonda, and congrats on your new appointment. As I mentioned earlier, I've been an AOS member for a very long time, and feel I owe them much for keeping my orchid enthusiasm growing. There has been some good outreach from them here lately, and I only hope this continues, and grows, as we all are in this together, and dialog can spread the good word better than anything else I can think of.

Kim

[cb977]

Great stuff, Rhonda!

It's very nice to have a broader AOS presence here on Orchidboard

With the knowledgeable members here and the newer welcoming feel we're getting form the AOS, I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the orchid-growing community

I'm sure you'll be getting lots of ideas, Rhonda...get ready

[bswanson]

This is great Rhonda! Thank you for your work and your committee's work in education.

I think the orchid community is going to benefit greatly from our new focus at the AOS.