"local students...
enrolled in the Regional Occupational Program at Soquel High School.
students will help raise money for their program by selling the orchids
that they've been caring for as part of a class for ROP's environmental
horticulture program. ROP is designed to provide students with training and
work experience...
Miriam Kaplan, who last year took over as head of the agriculture
department at Soquel High School, said the orchid sale gives her students a
taste of the real world.
"I think it is remarkably satisfying ... to have that hands-on experience
combined with a business component and a working component," Kaplan said.
About 45 students enrolled in ROP work with the orchids, many of which have
been donated by members of the Santa Cruz Orchid Society. Two greenhouses
on campus are filled with hundreds of plants, and students are responsible
for doing everything from repotting them to protecting them from insects.
The environmental horticulture program is also associated with the Future
Farmers of America. Kaplan said that through agriculture education, they
learn everything from biology and ecology, to environmentalism. The FFA
also teaches leadership skills, she said, and educates students on what it
takes to run a business.
For Victoria Cooke, a 17-year-old senior at Soquel High School who has been
involved in the environmental horticulture program for the past three
years, working with the orchids has become a passion.
"Orchids are something that I really love," said Cooke, who is vice
president of the school's FFA chapter.
She began working with the orchids as a freshman while taking a beginning
agriculture class, and has since learned the ins and outs of caring for the
tropical plants. Some members of the Santa Cruz Orchid Society visit the
classes and give tips on everything from transplanting to making organic
pesticides from scratch, she said.
"It's mostly us going outside and doing the work ourselves," she said. "It
doesn't feel like a class. It's kind of like a mixture of being at home and
a hobby."
Cooke, who hopes to study landscape architecture at UC Davis next year,
said the orchid show is an opportunity for students to market their
products and use their leadership skills.
...
Matt Zemny, who retired from Soquel High School last year after 34 years of
teaching, helped create the agriculture department 33 years ago."
source :
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/January/26/style/stories/07style.htm
**
Regards,
VB
___
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
orchids@orchidguide.com
http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
