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THORNE BAY, Alaska (AP) — Less than a year ago, Thorne Bay School science teacher Megan Fitzpatrick was "just a frustrated Southeast Alaskan trying to get food to grow."
Now she and the students of Thorne Bay School care for a greenhouse that supplies the school lunch program with regular greens for its salad bar; soon, they'll supply the whole school district and nearby businesses with about 250 heads of lettuce a week.
They've had lots of challenges, said Fitzpatrick, who is leading the program. They've had to focus on stabilizing the greenhouse's pH and electrical conductivity. They've dealt with leaks. They've done electrical troubleshooting to keep the system running. During the winter, the greenhouse and the school are heated by a wood-fired boiler, which is stoked each hour.
The students do much of the work.
"They made a handwritten troubleshooting guide," Fitzpatrick said. "They've actually designed the full way to solve problems, based on just constantly having to fix things. There are so many variables keeping a living plant going. They're learning all of these variables and making sure it stays within the parameters to stay healthy."
Eleventh-grader Ieshia Searle, who wants to be a paramedic firefighter, has been involved with the program since its beginning. She helped former Thorne Bay natural resources teacher Brian Adams (students learn about the greenhouse in a natural resources class) when he wrote a grant request for funding.
She was one of three students who ran the greenhouse this summer. Searle works there after school and on the weekends, and as someone experienced in growing food, found herself being like a teacher during the class.
"My family has always grown a lot of stuff," she said. "We have gardens up north for food. ... I was excited to take the class ... I had never done (hydroponics) before. I had always grown in dirt."
The greenhouse uses a "nutrient film hydroponic system" that "pumps this thin film of water loaded with nutrients along the roots of the plants," Fitzpatrick explained.
The program, started in February, is largely a result of Southeast Island School District superintendent Lauren Burch, she said.
"It's his legacy he wants to leave with the school district," she said. "He wanted to have kids have real-life work experiences."
The greenhouse has other benefits.
"I think there is more of an awareness of eating food in its original form rather than processed food," Fitzpatrick said. "At first they were afraid - 'What, you just pull a leaf off of it and eat it?'- now anytime they walk in there they're just grabbing leaves off the plant and chowing down."
The district is building three more greenhouses.
Coffman Cove will have a 6,500 square-foot greenhouse. Naukati's greenhouse is almost complete; Kasaan will also get one.
The school district recently bought a vacant restaurant in Thorne Bay; school officials plan to start a student-run (but adult-managed) café that serves the things the district's students grow.
Asked if she had any other thoughts, Searle said, "If they're thinking about starting a greenhouse, they should totally go for it. Anything is possible, because we had a class full of kids that had no idea how to do it, and we pulled through, and we have a beautiful greenhouse now."
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