Tales of a Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Docent

I have been a volunteer at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse for ten years. I have friends who volunteer at other places who do not have the incredible and very flexible scheduling arrangement that we have. All volunteers may choose to arrange their lighthouse time and activity, either at the lighthouse itself, or at an off-site outreach like a school, on days of their choice, and at the time they are needed according to the weekly and longer look-a-head Calendar of Events emailed to volunteers on a regular basis by our Programs Manager. Volunteers choose to match their skills, choices and their time to the schedule provided. Training is ongoing and follow-up is usually done at a tour of a program by observing and participating with the support of other volunteers who are masters of the skill. We learn from each other.

One can choose to do on-site tours of the lighthouse station for any age group, engage in day-long educational programs, or represent the lighthouse at outreach programs like the recent Port Orange Fun Days; meeting people and talking to them about the many lighthouse programs which are available. It’s also fun to go into our Volusia County school classrooms and present pre-lighthouse tour preparation programs to enable students to be better prepared to appreciate, and understand the differences between life, work, skills, occupations and technologies of the early nineteenth century and today.

The Education Lighthouse

Many of our programs are student-oriented school tours, or involve school students learning about the history of navigation, from bonfires on the beach to more sophisticated visual beacons like lighthouses and finally electronic transmission. Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Education programs have been the subject of many national reports and recognitions and we have happily shared our programs and activities with lighthouse organizations and history museums worldwide.

On A Personal Basis

Volunteering at the lighthouse has many other benefits. The volunteers are treated very well and volunteer corps is constantly on the go visiting other museums and neighboring lighthouses to learn Florida and National History from many viewpoints. Volunteers are treated to these trips and activities and you get to socialize with fun and interesting people, while at the same time learning.

I realize a great deal of personal satisfaction teaching things to our visitors, both kids and adults. Nothing is better than the “Ah, Ha” moment when a student gets it. For me, it makes the day very worthwhile.

Let me give one example of a great moment. One day, I had a group of non-verbal students, and we were doing a favorite activity by looking at identifying common-place household artifacts from one-hundred-years ago. I held up a spindly egg basket, used to carry eggs. After a long time, one of the students suddenly called out “to collect eggs.”
The teacher, chaperones, and eventually I, all started to tear-up even while smiling broadly. I had just learned before the exercise, that student had not talked for nine months. Moments like this make volunteering at the lighthouse so special.

Since the lighthouse is so well-known as a standout historic museum and an active aid to navigation, it isn’t the usual day at the lighthouse when you do not get to meet people from all over the world who are visiting our National Historic Landmark.

If you are interested in joining the volunteer corps of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum, please contact Programs Manager Zach Hopple at education@ponceinlet.org or via phone at 386-761-1821 ext 18. We are always looking for passionate people to join the ranks and help in various roles. No experience in education or museums is required and all training will be provided by the staff and volunteers.