Approximately 300 middle school and high school teachers attended the kickoff of the 13th annual 2014-15 Fairchild Challenge interdisciplinary, environmental science competition conducted at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden on Saturday, Aug. 23.
Speaking at the kickoff were Dr. Carl Lewis, director of Fairchild Garden; Amy Padolf, director of education of Fairchild Garden, and Dr. Larry Feldman, vice chair, Miami-Dade County Public Schools. More than 130,000 children in grades PreK-12 at 270 schools now are a part of The Fairchild Challenge.
The theme of this year’s Fairchild Challenge is biodiversity and combines Fairchild Garden’s authentic science research with interdisciplinary programs to find longterm sustainable solutions. At the kickoff, The Fairchild Palms, the young professionals’ networking group at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, made a donation of $16,000 collected at fund raising activities throughout the past year.
