The Desert Museum Docents
Photo credit ASDM/Bob Henderlong
Who are Docents?
Docents are trained 志愿者 whose primary responsibility is to engage visitors on the Museum grounds to better understand and appreciate the Sonoran Desert region. Docents are adults of all ages, walks of life and educational backgrounds. There are currently over 200 docents volunteering once per week or more at the Museum.
讲师的职责
A docent's primary responsibility is interpretation on the Museum grounds. Such interpretation consists of leading tours, live animal interpretations, interpreting at a cart or exhibit and supporting museum special events.
The Museum requires a minimum two-year commitment to the 讲解员的程序. To maintain active status, docents are required to donate a minimum of 144 小时 of interpretation per year on the Museum grounds. Docents are also required to attend Advanced Desert Classes (the first Wednesday of each month from September-May) and attend other required training and workshops scheduled throughout the year.
How can you get involved?
世界杯app软件推荐 this page in the future for updates about the next docent class.
Please be aware that there is an enrollment fee for the 讲解员的程序 that trainees are responsible for, prior to the beginning of the course; pricing is itemized below:
- Natural 历史 of the Sonoran Desert 2nd Edition Text: $32
- Docent Training Manual: $30
- Docent Handbook: $25
- Administration Fee: $43
- 实地考察旅行 & 午餐:20美元
*Uniforms are worn by docents after they graduate and consist of khaki pants and a white shirt; patches are included in the enrollment fees. Payment plans and scholarships are available for applicants whom this fee represents a financial hardship. Please send a letter requesting a payment plan or scholarship to:
Director of 保护 Education and 科学Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
2021 N Kinney Road
Tucson, AZ 85743
What is Docent training like?
Photo credit ASDM/Bob Henderlong
Trainees meet at the Museum for a four hour class, two weekday mornings each week for fifteen weeks (some classes are all day sessions). The first week consists of four morning orientation sessions that cover the museum’s history and mission, interpretation and customer service. The classes are taught by Museum curatorial staff and educators. The curriculum is coordinated by the Associate Director of 保护 Education & 科学, 玛丽长, and focuses on desert ecology, 地质, 植物学, 昆虫学, 哺乳动物学, 鸟类学, 爬虫学, people of the Sonoran Desert and ecological concepts.
The course is taught in the Museum's Education Annex classrooms and on the museum grounds. Trainees are required to spend time on the Museum grounds, observing docent interpretations, co-interpreting and completing written assignments. Trainees must complete all assignments, receive passing scores on the mid-term and a final exam and successfully lead a desert discovery tour and saguaro interpretation. Trainees are expected to attend all classes. They may miss no more than three sessions, and these must be made up. Upon successful completion of the course, trainees attend a graduation ceremony and receive diplomas as they are welcomed into the Museum family.