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Verandah's New Butterfly Garden Provides Life Skills to Exceptional Students in Lee County
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A new butterfly garden at Verandah represents more than just a beautiful place for residents. For five students with special needs from Riverdale High School, the garden – which the students are installing and maintaining – is an opportunity to learn a skill that could lead to a vocation.
The students, 16 to 18 years old, began working with Verandah's golf and grounds maintenance crew in late February and are visiting the 1,456-acre community, located along the Orange River in Fort Myers, twice a week. The garden is located within the community's River Village, where it will be accessible to all Verandah residents.
"The students were so excited about this project," said Sona Dowdy, a job coach specialist with the Lee County School District. "They've never been exposed to a garden."
"This is their garden – from start to finish," said Steve Bill, director of golf and grounds maintenance at Verandah. "Not only are they helping us create it, they'll also maintain it."
Installing plants that attract butterflies will likely continue through the remainder of the school year, said Bill. "Right now, we're digging holes for the plants and learning what each student is capable of contributing. The students are doing great so far, and my team members are really enjoying working with them."
The students, who are accompanied by a teacher's assistant during their Tuesday and Thursday visits, will soon be welcomed to the team when they receive "official" Verandah uniform shirts. "We're taking pictures because we want to give them a scrapbook at the end of the school year that chronicles their work and the garden's progress," said Bill.
The garden measures approximately 500 square feet and is located between the River House and Boat House in Verandah's River Village. "I'm really glad we were able to offer this project, and I hope we can continue to work with different students each school year," said Bill.
The Exceptional Student Education program is offered in most of Lee County's high schools and classroom sizes range from 12 to 25 students, who can participate until their 22nd birthday. Life Skills classes are designed to provide work experience and teach students long-term skills.
"Our goal is to expose these students to job skills so they can find paid employment and eventually live as independently as possible," Dowdy said. "We have some students working in a retirement home, learning skills like changing, laundering and folding linen. These are skills they will use in their lives."
Finding work-related opportunities at Lee County's more remote high schools like Riverdale is sometimes a challenge, Dowdy said. "We have huge community support from companies including Publix and Winn-Dixie. This project at Verandah exposes students to work experience outside of a grocery store environment. It's something different for us," she said.
It's not the first time Bonita Bay Group has welcomed young adults with special needs at its communities: Students from Estero High School have worked with Bonita Bay's golf maintenance department and in the kitchen at Rosie Spoonbill's restaurant at The Brooks.
"Exceptional Student Education is a wonderful program offered by Lee County Schools," said Kitty Green, president and CEO of Bonita Bay Group. "We're always pleased to find ways to partner with these programs while helping students learn valuable job skills."
Verandah, created as an environmentally friendly and sustainable community, has earned environmental accolades for its emphasis on green building and preservation, its respect for the land and its comprehensive approach to sustainability. Since being named Florida's first green land development by the Florida Green Building Coalition in April 2003 – two months after sales began – Verandah has received the Council for Sustainable Florida's 2007 Best Practices Award for green building, the Florida Urban Forestry Council's Trees Florida 2007 Award, Project EverGreen's Because Green Matters Award, and the Florida Association of Realtors' 2006 Environmental (ENVY) Award.
The 1,456-acre community, located along a 1.75-mile stretch of the Orange River in Fort Myers, has also been named by Where to Retire magazine as one of "America's 100 Best Master-Planned Communities" in 2007 and was named Community of the Year by the Lee Building Industry Association in 2005 and 2008. Whispering Oak, Verandah's second 18-hole championship golf course, was named by Golf Inc. magazine as one of the top five new private courses in the country in 2007.
Each single-family model home at Verandah has been constructed to meet the Florida Green Building Coalition's requirements for green home certification, and residents have the ability to choose construction and feature options that conserve natural resources, improve indoor air quality and reduce energy consumption.
Verandah's single-family homebuilders are offering increased energy efficiency through Florida Power & Light Company's BuildSmart® program. Structured wiring is being built into each home to facilitate always-on, high-speed Internet access, as well as a wide range of options for home automation.
Nearly 70 percent of Verandah's 1,456 acres will be open space, including natural preserve areas, parks, wetlands, lakes, golf courses and a conservation buffer to help maintain the unique character of the community's riverfront. Verandah will offer more than nine miles of walkways, paths and fitness trails.
Verandah's amenities are located in River Village, the community's social hub with individual buildings nestled into an expansive oak hammock. The amenities include the Golf House pro shop; Oak Park with the community treehouse and playground; the Boat House, featuring Blossom's community grill, a canoe and kayak livery and multi-level decks overlooking the river; tennis and fitness center; and the River House, featuring Jesse Fish lounge, the 120-seat Alligator Pear restaurant and the open-air River Terrace overlooking the river.
Old Orange, Verandah's first 18-hole championship golf course designed by award-winning golf course architect Bob Cupp, was inspired by the spectacular oak trees throughout the site. Whispering Oak, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II, opened in early 2007.
Membership in the New Leaf Wine Club is an exclusive, complimentary benefit for residents of all Bonita Bay Group communities. The Wine Club offers wine tastings, dinners, classes and excursions, as well as special pricing on an exceptional collection of wines.
Verandah offers estate, custom and traditional single-family homes, villas and coach homes with home and homesite packages priced from the low $200,000s to more than $1 million. For a limited time, Bonita Bay Group is underwriting a limited number of buyer incentives that include club memberships along with HOA master association fees through 2010 for contracts signed by April 30, 2009. For additional information, contact the Verandah Information Center at 888-877-7430. The Verandah Information Center is located two miles east of I-75 on State Road 80 (exit 141), or visit www.Verandah.com.
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Equal Housing Opportunity