Greenhouse offers hands-on learning
Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, May 3, 2017
- Central High School students, from left, Blake Franklin and Devin Gee work in the school’s greenhouse, where agriculture teacher Lyle Currin gives students hands-on experience with growing plants. Currin has 40 students from three different sections of classes who manage the greenhouse.
For many, Spring means watching beautiful flowers, fruit and vegetable plants come to life.
For the students in Lyle Currin’s agriculture class at Central High School, they help make that process happen.
The class, in its greenhouse slightly outside of the school, grow a cornucopia of annual flowers, like marigolds and begonias, and even vegetables.
The agriculture program has been offered at Central High School since 1966, shortly after the school opened, Currin said.
Currin, who teaches agriculture to 40 students in three sections, said the greenhouse is a hands-on aspect of the class. Rather than learn about growing plants from the confines of a classroom, students get to experience the process themselves at the greenhouse.
“The purpose of the greenhouse is to teach … It’s an extension of the class,” Currin said.
Planning in advance for the reacent heavy rains, Currin said he planned on the students working to transplant tomato seedlings, or moving the plants from a smaller pot to a larger one to encourage their growth.
Currin said the school sometimes holds fundraisers to purchase supplies and keep the greenhouse going.
“It’s for the kids, and for them to learn,” Currin said.
To learn more about the program, call Central High School at (434) 696-2137.
The greenhouse at Central High School has varieties of annuals, vegetables and flowering plants, which are cared for by students. The agriculture class that utilizes the greenhouse allows students a chance to leave the classroom and work hands-on with plants.
