The Life In Bloom Foundation Supports Floral Education
“We take great pride at Life In Bloom and with The Life In Bloom Foundation in furthering education about cut flowers, says J Schwanke. “Not only to the 115 million households the show reaches every week, but also to young people who are learning about floriculture and horticulture through more than 400 professional educators across the nation.”
One of those educators, Professional Educator Cassie Sanders (AIFD, CFD, TMF) of Lubbock Independent School District, recently contacted J to engage her class via Zoom, after including videos from J’s website uBloom.com in her curriculum. “Any time I can introduce my students to a guest speaker, it helps cement a real-world experience for my students and allows them to explore career opportunities they may not have previously considered,” notes Cassie. “It opens up their small world a little more and exposes them to new opportunities.”
“It’s always a fun proposition to speak to students who have seen my videos in the classroom,” notes J. “While I have usually never met any of the students in person, they are quite familiar with me, from watching the uBloom videos in their curriculum, so there’s kind of a built-in rapport, and their interest is heightened, so they always have great questions.”
“Having the opportunity to invite J into my classroom was an incredible experience for my students. They were able to ask questions and have a conversation with an industry-leading florist!” enthused Cassie. “About 40% of this class wants to pursue a career in the floral industry! They were able to gain valuable industry insight from a florist who has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience.”
“It’s my pleasure to open up all of the flower education videos I have created over the years on uBloom.com to floral educators to include in their curriculum,” says J. “Education budgets are stretched to the limit and beyond - not only in junior high and high schools, but often in community colleges, and even universities as well.”
Over 400 professional educators make use of instruction videos on the uBloom website. “I am very proud of the fact that they find the content we have created so useful – it really validates what I learned over the years and have tried to make available to florists. Not just promotional opportunities for vendors, but important techniques that are not only traditional in nature, but still relevant to modern floristry. Almost everything old becomes ‘new’ again at some point,” muses J. “Therefore, as a fourth-generation florist, I can provide insight as to what has worked well in the past and how it translates to today. What makes sense and what is effective – as far as technique – versus new approaches that are either gimmicks, or not good for the flowers, and thus bad for the flower industry.”
There are hundreds of videos with floral design instruction at all levels from beginner to expert. Over the years, Professional Educators have made use of the videos for classroom instruction to prepare students for working with actual flowers. “Budgets are strained just about everywhere in the country. It can be a challenge to even provide flowers for students to work with and learn by experience. That is why I am so proud The Life in Bloom Foundation can provide FREE subscriptions to professional educators, it’s so important,” says J. Annual subscriptions to uBloom are a $79.99 value. While all Life in Bloom episodes are FREE to watch on the same website, professional florists (and others) have supported paid subscriptions for industry-oriented content for many years.
Texas is a hotbed of floral educators and J has provided professional educators subscriptions – free of charge – for years. “In fact, back when I would travel to the Dallas Market Center – who by the way, were always generous to local educators with hard goods – I would visit Shawn Coyle’s (TMF, FFA) classes at Skyline High School and see the next generations of florists and would have so much fun answering their questions,” recounts J. “The program there has always been very successful and attracts more students each year. Texas State Floral Association has always been very supportive of education there as well.”
Future Farmers of America (FFA) is another organization that has made use of the uBloom website as times have changed. “Years ago, when education was better supported in the industry, I would always say yes to FFA students at any location to where I was traveling. Hands-on classes were a treat to instruct back in the day with the Connecticut Florist Association,” recalled J fondly.
Recent years have seen J’s presentations switch to online Zoom presentations, for convenience as well as budget considerations. “I am happy to donate my time – along with the website memberships – to connect with students and professional educators. I have spoken to educators in California for a day long education session giving direction, tips, and answering questions. Doing so remotely is now natural in the post-COVID era, and helps with expense budgets,” notes J.
Any professional educator at the middle school, high school, community college, or university levels is welcome to a FREE subscription to uBloom.com. Professional Educators are invited to send requests to j@ubloom.com (yes, it’s J, himself), and once the credentials and school are verified, a login and password will be provided.
REMINDER:
All CalFlowers members, have FREE access to Life In Bloom content PLUS paid subscriber sections of the uBloom.com website. E-mail Jordan Richardson (jordan@cafgs.org) so she may facilitate a free membership to the entire library of flower arranging instructional videos.