Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens announces its first ever Maine Educator Day, Tuesday, Aug. 20. CMBG welcomes all Maine educators to explore the Gardens for free; participants will have to opportunity to discover innovative ways to incorporate nature and stewardship into their class curriculum.

The program will introduce educators to the Gardens, a place for learning, investigation and discovery for all ages. Among the season’s late-summer blooms, participants will discover new ways of connecting students to nature though the life sciences, botanical arts, and natural and cultural history.

Maine teachers are invited to explore at their leisure, cultivating their own — and their incoming students’ — curiosity by strolling through the Native Butterfly and Moth House to get up-close and personal with native butterflies and moths in all life stages, discover pollywogs and pollinators in action in the Bibby and Harold Alfond Children’s Garden, explore the Maine woods and Fairy Village along the coastal shoreline, or explore the possibilities inherent in the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses. CMBG’s Youth & Family Program Coordinator, Erika Huber, will be available at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Bosarge Family Education Center for an overview of CMBG’s indoor and outdoor learning and classroom spaces.

Reservations are not required to participate in this event. To receive free admission, simply present a Maine school ID or verification of educator status upon arrival. Educators and one guest will have free admission all day on Aug. 20.