My Experience At Pollinator Project Rogue Valley

Saturn, Mozie, and Charlie tending the Children's Learning Garden at Blue Heron Park, Phoenix

by Saturn Rose, Mozie Turner, Charlie Bishop: End-of-term articles written after finishing a three-month internship in March 2026

I first heard about Pollinator Project Rouge Valley through one of my teachers at Armadillo and I remember thinking that I liked how there was a place revolving around native plants and pollinators. At first I didn't think much about it until I did some more research on PPRV and then I wrote an email reaching out to them to see if they had any volunteer opportunities available for me. They did.

I wanted to start working with the Pollinator Project because it seemed like a great place to volunteer for and I love plants and the environment and wanted to know more about pollinators and native plants. I started volunteering with the Pollinator Project in October on Saturdays and Mondays which was a big step for me because I have never volunteered at one place before. In January I started working as a paid intern through Southern Oregon Youth Works.

One time we were working on a farm and I got to see a previous garden that the Pollinator Project had worked on as well as a 9 day old goat who walked around as we weeded in the garden which was my first experience working on a farm that big as well as weeding that much. I got so sucked into weeding and admiring the baby goat that I didn't notice when my phone slipped out of my pocket. I got up to leave and I instinctively checked my pocket only to find that my phone was not there where it previously had been so pollinator staff, the other interns and I looked everywhere, retraced our steps like 5 times and still could not find it anywhere. We

ended up driving back to the Pollinator Project and looking at the shop. It wasn't there. We drove back to the farm and it was under a bunch of soil and a plant/ weeds we had dug up previously. That's when I learned to wear pants with better pockets while weeding or to leave my phone in my bag when leaving to go work someplace like a farm or the community learning garden.

Another time when I was helping with the plant sale I had to think more about where the payment app that Pollinator uses would work the best and have the best connection to the wifi so that it wouldn't be so slow when people were checking out plants. As well as giving me better experience with checking people out. It also helped with social interacting practice.

Saturn working a pop-up plant sale

I have learned a lot from working with Pollinator Project Rogue Valley. I have learned things from how to pot up seeds properly and run a plant sale to laying mulch and weeding to knowing how to fill out an office newsletter and how to laminate and design posters on Canva.

I am incredibly grateful for having this opportunity through Southern Oregon Youth Works, and for being able to have this as my first working experience. I now have more knowledge and experience to bring with me to my next job. Working at Pollinator Project Rogue Valley has helped me be more confident in myself and what I am capable of doing. It has helped me gain a better understanding of what working looks like and through Southern Oregon Youth Works and Express Employment I have learned how to fill out timecards on time and how to be more

responsible for myself.

Now I know more about Native plants in general and have a favorite Native plant. It is Self-Heal. It is fun to work with and it looks really cool.

Saturn Rose

Armadillo Community Charter School, Phoenix

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My time at Pollinator Project Rogue Valley has taught me that it is important to take time out of your day to make your community a better place with native pollinators and plants. And help inform those around how important it is to know about or have these plants in their yard.

My favorite project/task that I have contributed to was definitely the second Fridays. These were my favorite because it was amazing seeing all the people who were interested in Pollinators while these only happened once a month. It was still so fun and so so busy! I loved learning about all the people who have been with the Pollinator Project and I loved learning about the people who have just discovered PPRV.

Charlie and Mozie talking to a customer at a Second Friday.

I feel I have learned so much from PPRV, I've learned about gardening and how to take care of our local environment by keeping native plants alive. I have also learned many different native plants and how to identify them. Some of my other favorite tasks include planting seeds, transferring plants to bigger pots, weeding and anything that has to do with being outside and handling the plants myself, getting my hands dirty and I love to see progress in the nursery (where we keep our plants) after some time. Watching the seeds I planted a couple weeks ago

start to sprout is so fulfilling and fun!

Mozie, Charlie, and Saturn seeding trays inside on a very cold day outside

I have benefited from my internship so much and to anyone who has any free time and has a love for our community I would recommend the Pollinator Project indefinitely.

Mozie Turner

Armadillo Community Charter School, Phoenix

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My experience with the Pollinator Project has been very positive and has made me grow as a person and as someone who is starting to get into the workforce and learning how a work environment is supposed to look like. I learned how to talk to people, and ask questions when I need to; instead of being too nervous to ask about anything. I was able to run a booth by myself and help people buy our products and plants. Which is something I couldn't do before coming here.

The project I am most proud of is my work in the Children's Learning Garden. It was nice to be able to help plan and arrange a space for kids to be learning about plants and pollinators!

Weeding, then placing the plants where we want them to go, planting them carefully and then seeing the magic happen is so exciting. One of the things I enjoy most is seeing a garden grow and be worked on by others; I love the community it brings.

Saturn, Mozie, and Charlie mulching the newly planted 4th St. Garden, Phoenix

Pollinator Project Rogue Valley is a great outlet for people looking for a flexible and open work environment, the staff create a healthy work space where you can feel comfortable coming to any of them for questions or help without feeling judged. If you have a passion to help our environment, a passion for plants or just want to help a local organization this is definitely the place to volunteer! You can help with numerous things like cleaning around the office, learning square (the app we use for money transactions), how to sell our products at a pop-up, and talk

to many people in our community and learn about organizations you had no idea were around.

You can plant seeds and watch them spout or you can transfer a sprout to a larger pot and watch the little guy get bigger, and you can clean dried flower/ fruit off the seeds so they can be planted.

Saturn, Mozie, Kara the Nursery Manager, and Charlie transplanting seedlings on a warm spring day

I would highly recommend volunteering with Pollinator Project Rogue Valley to anyone who wants to help make a difference in their local community and environment. Go sign up now!

Charlie Bishop

Armadillo Community Charter School, Phoenix