By Bailey Carelock, GWCFC journalism student
Agriculture is the basis of our society. Without it, humans could not sustain life. Agriculture is used for more than just food. With agriculture, we are also give materials to build structures, make clothes and even to beautify our surroundings. Thanks to a grant from Two Rivers RC&D Mr. Spencer Highsmith, Agriculture teacher, at George Washington Carver Freshman Campus (GWCFC), plans to do just that.
The grant was for $1500 and is being used to build raised flower beds around the GWCFC campus, up and down the open outside hallways. The 17 flower beds are going to be home to various flowers, fruits and vegetables such as potatoes. GWCFC student Jordan Wright says, “Teachers can choose what they want to plant,” because the planters are for teachers to utilize. GWCFC is an outdoor campus, so it does not have the closed in hallways of a traditional school. Instead, it has a ton of outdoor space. The beds not only will add some green into the schools multitude of grassy areas but will also be functional by providing classrooms with fresh produce and a little bit of gardening experience. The flowerbed activities are cross-curricular in a few different ways. For example, building the flowerbeds incorporated math. The students needed to calculate the volume of the flowerbeds to determine how much soil was needed to fill them.
Upkeep of a garden is not easy, so the entire campus will be involved in tending to the flowerbeds. This will give the option to learn a little bit about agriculture to students who do not have the time in their schedule to take the course. It is also a way to bring the GWCFC campus together. GWCFC student, Caitlyn Cato, said, “The planter boxes around the school are a great way to bring our students closer.” All students can be involved despite what their main interests are, even if those interests have nothing to do with agriculture. Whether a student dedicates their life to sports, has a love for theater, or has a bright green thumb, they will all have the chance to help paint the campus green.
Mr. Highsmith’s student fill the raised beds with soil.