Master gardener Chad Hellenius and Tracy Calogheros – photo 250 News

Prince George, B.C. – Popular children’s programmes have made The Exploration Place in Prince George one of the busiest locations in the city this summer.

“We have Science Alliance summer camps as well as Fort George Explorers and the fact of the matter is we’re sold-out,” says CEO Tracy Calogheros. “It’s the first time in five or six years that Science Alliance has completely sold-out for every week so it’s great news for us.”

She notes the over 200 students enrolled in the programmes have regular access to the museum’s container garden and its focus on urban agricultural sustainability, something she says has grown the past six years.

“It’s a place where the kids can plan the garden, grow some of their own food that they use in their healthy snack program and then donate the extra food back to other social agencies in town.”

Calogheros says the program has continued to evolve over the years.

“We’ve brought some seniors in the community in that have helped us teach the kids how to do pickle canning and they’ve made their own salsas,” she says. “So a lot of the produce gets processed at the harvest garden in the fall and then the kids eat it all winter long and donating extra produce.”

Calogheros says Chad, the master gardener on staff, helps mentor the kids and notes he”has really taken all of that on as his baby.”

Ironically, she admits the success of the programmes has made the museum sustainable itself.

“Absolutely. The child care programs are not only a really good revenue stream but it’s a bit of an inoculation against funding cuts.”