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MOUNTAIN PINE, Ark. (AP) — Coach Keith Scott's Greenhouse Project at Mountain Pine High School allows students to learn about plants and maintaining their own enterprise in a single collective endeavor.
Students study various topics in the fall semester of Environmental Science. They begin to prepare plants by the end of the semester.
"When we come back from Christmas, we start to work and I mean it is hard work," Scott said. "My students do all the planting."
Students planted about 4,000 to 5,000 petunia seeds. They also planted morning glories, dianthuses, coleuses and moss roses to be used for Mother's Day baskets, which will soon go on sale. They fertilize, transplant and monitor soil conditions.
The group will make 25 16-inch wire baskets with a coconut shell lining, 50 to 75 10-inch plastic hanging baskets with petunias, and another 50 10-inch green, hanging baskets with moss roses or dianthuses. Students match the colors of the flowers to the baskets.
They design fliers to be hung around the school and the community to advertise the prices. One 16-inch basket is $25. The cost decreases to $20 each for orders of two to five baskets. The baskets are $15 each for orders of six or more. The 10-inch baskets are $10, $7-$8 each for two to five, and $5 each for six or more.
Students stick to a planting schedule. They use an almanac and study germination and maturity times to determine when to plant, The Sentinel Record (http://bit.ly/1GngB5e ) reports.
The flower seeds begin to bloom once they start planting vegetable seeds. They must then transplant the flowers before spring break. Scott said the group tries to determine the selling size by Good Friday every year when farmers begin to plant.
The project saves a call list of customers each year. Students read from a script when they call customers.
Students design order forms, fill orders and accept money from customers. They must also maintain the inventory of plants.
"This project teaches about hard work and you get out of something exactly what you put into it," Scott said. "There are many life lessons the students learn like taking orders and direction and implying and inferring."
They sell the starter vegetable plants, create baskets, water the plants, fertilize and clean every day.
"Our students have to work very hard daily to keep up," Scott said. "Sometimes it gets really crazy out there."
Hours of operation are printed on the fliers. Appointments can also be made.
Available vegetable starter plants include several types of tomatoes, bell peppers and hot peppers. The vine plants include various cucumbers, melons and squash. The students also raise okra and cilantro.
Vegetable starter plants are 25 cents each or $8 for a flat. Extra flowers will sell for the same price after Mother's Day baskets are completed.
The vegetables will be on sale through the end of school or until the supply is depleted. Any remaining plants will be planted in the school's flower beds. Seeds are harvested to use the next year.
"Our students learn how to get along with the public some," Scott said. "This is their first experience with that. They learn responsibility to the group and the project. They learn how to work together. They learn about how to do inventory and how to plant seeds and when to plant."
Scott assigns a reflective essay for the semester exam. He said they must use their lab journals to summarize the experience.
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Information from: The Sentinel-Record, http://www.hotsr.com
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