Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Multi-talented Mikaela Hill

Mikaela Hill looks at Sugar Sand Park's butterfly garden and sees something different than most people.

Rather than looking for the vibrant colors of exotic butterflies fluttering from flower to flower, she's interested in finding something a little more down to earth: bugs.

“Because they're just so silly looking,” Hill said with a smile. “They look nothing like you would normally expect from nature. That's why I also like deep sea creatures. They just look so alien. And I love it!” 

Hill's curiosity and dedication make her one of the most valued volunteers at two of Boca Raton's most acclaimed parks.

With nearly 150 hours of volunteer service between Sugar Sand Park and the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center already this school year, Hill is in the running for the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, which honors the most outstanding volunteers nationwide. 

“She likes what she does and she wants to be here,” Sugar Sand Park Volunteer Coordinator Nikki Horbach said of Hill. “She really goes out of her way to work with the kids, and work with the adults, and answer questions, and do everything with them. Where some of our kids are a little bit shy, she's really out there.”

Hill credits her time volunteering at parks with improving her social skills.

“I can easily say I probably wouldn't be as well adjusted to talking to people if I hadn't started to volunteer,” Hill said.

While volunteering at Sugar Sand, Hill spends much of her time in the Science Explorium preparing exhibits for the day and helping children operate the exhibits. Recently she's been utilized as a greeter at the desk, a rarity for a 16-year-old. And she often walks the butterfly garden and trails, ensuring those features are clean for visitors.

She chose to volunteer at Sugar Sand, in part, because it's a park she began enjoying as a toddler. 

“I'm like, alright, it'd be nice to give back to the same park that gave a lot to me,” Hill said. 

At Gumbo Limbo she monitors the shallow and deep outdoor tanks, often identifying the species of fish for visitors or answering questions about other animals.

“She's very enthusiastic about being outside, sharing information with visitors,” Gumbo Limbo Volunteer Coordinator Amy Kucken said. “She's very approachable, very kind. She just comes in with a great attitude to help us out wherever she can.”

A home-schooled sophomore, Hill's days are packed with scholarly pursuits and activities. Like many high schoolers, she complains about the amount of homework she has on any given night.

She's also taken up electric bass, and her friends are already encouraging Hill to join a band.

Hill cites 1970s and 1980s rockers Kiss, Queen and AC/DC as some of her influences, attributing much of her taste in music to her father. Her mother leans more toward funk, which also comes in handy when playing the bass.

With several of the Science Explorium's exhibits dedicated to sound, Hill has set a unique goal to accomplish before the end of her stint as a volunteer.

“I'm thinking about learning [AC/DC's] Thunderstruck on the slap-a-phone,” Hill said. “I think they called it the Bop Organ. I'm just used to calling it a slap-a-phone.”