The Ag department opened their greenhouse and new farmers market last Friday. The greenhouse features 16 different flowering plants, six filler plants, vegetable & herb plants, five different hanging baskets and other succulents and houseplants. Mrs. Tara Poe is the horticulture teacher and cares for all the plants sold throughout the year. She teaches both the greenhouse classes and two floral design classes. Students in the horticulture pathway can apply all the knowledge they learned in these classes to help out during the Spring Sale and have the opportunity to compete in floral-related contests throughout the state. The farmers market is a brand new addition to the ag campus and has provided students the chance to show off their business skills (also learned in Mrs. Poe’s new Agribusiness class).
The greenhouse classes learn how to take care of different plants and flowers as well as manage a greenhouse. By the end of the course, students will be able to ace greenhouse-related vocabulary, determine diseases in plants, know how to properly plant seedlings, and be able to take care of plants. Each student can plant a snippet of a Jade plant that will be sold during the Spring sale.
The floral design class focuses more on using all the flowers and plants learned about in the greenhouse class to create arrangements. Mrs. Poe begins the course by teaching how color and emotions play a role in floral design. Students dive deeper into aspects of the color wheel. They also determine different types of flowers and arrangements. Students in the class have made pumpkin arrangements with flowers coming out of the top half of the pumpkin, bouquets, wreaths, Valentine’s Day arrangements, corsages (just in time for prom season!), and even designed a dress made out of flowers. This class allows students to express their creativity and artistic abilities.
Two new features to the ag department are the Agribusiness class and farmers market. The Agribusiness class teaches students interested in running businesses to be successful entrepreneurs. They go on field trips to different local businesses and have guest speakers every month. The class contains quite a few entrepreneurs in the class who are taking their skills out of the classroom. The Farmers Market contains all student-made items and is student run. It features dog treats, jewelry, artwork, fishing rods, handmade soap, and vintage goods. Both the class and market have had success and will continue for years to come.
Any student interested in plants & flowers, animal science, mechanics, entrepreneurship, and having numerous opportunities should look at taking classes down at the Ag building. It’s not just for the farm kids and is open to anyone looking to be hands-on with outside the classroom activities. With three different Ag teachers and more than four classes to choose from, students have something intriguing to choose from.
