New Greenhouse to Provide Education in Mishawaka
Published: Friday, January 18, 2019
The word agriculture often evokes images of farmers in their tractors harvesting crops, feeding hogs or milking cows. However, there is much more variety within the industry. Urban agriculture is budding at a high school in St. Joseph County (Ind.).
Jacob Crawford is the landscape manager and urban forester for the Mishawaka Parks Department. Prior to this, he was a science teacher. While he was attending college for his teaching degree, he was in charge of a landscaping club at Mishawaka High School.
The greenhouse was only a couple hundred square feet.
"It's terrible," Crawford said. "It doesn't face the sun. It's not heated, it's shared with the science department, so there's storage in there."
However, the club would use the space to learn about plants and could take some home as well. When he took over as manager of the parks department, he wanted to start up the club again. Crawford said the club started out with just two people. Now there are over 20 students participating in the landscaping club.
The small greenhouse could not support the growing club. Crawford said the students sparked the idea to start fundraising for a bigger greenhouse. He helped the students get to work making a video proposal and setting a budget for the project.
"The students in the club put all of it together and they made this really awesome video," Crawford said. "We sent it in and we received a matching grant from Indiana Housing Community Development Authority."
The initial goal was $23,000. The grant matches the amount they raised. The club had 45 days to raise the money. For every organization the club spoke to, at least one student would present the idea. The students ended up exceeding their goal and raised $29,000.
The club learns to grow tropical plants in the greenhouse and how to take cuttings from those plants. They also grow plants from seeds. Some of the plants they grow with be planted in the parks during the summer months. Students also get to take home some of the plants and vegetables they grow.
"(The club) gets the kids familiar with the plant anatomy and just getting their hands dirty," Crawford said.
Students get hands-on involvement with agriculture that they may not otherwise experience. Many people in the area live in subdivisions without the room to have a garden of their own. The school does not have an agriculture program, so for many of the students this is the only opportunity they have to learn about it.
"A lot of the students don't have a yard or capacity to take stuff home," he said. "So as part of the greenhouse we're going to have an outdoor garden area so those that can't take stuff home can always come to the garden."
Crawford said one year the club helped grow seeds for a wildflower prairie restoration that took place in the city. They also do projects with the Japanese gardens. The projects adapt to what the students are interested in and what they want to learn.
The landscaping club meets several times a week. They often attend other sites like parks for field trips. Crawford hopes the club will create more interest in the parks department. Most of the positions are seasonal and it is difficult for Crawford to find help that will continue to come back. He has already had several students join the department after participating in the club.
"These kids have gotten really interested in horticulture," he said. "It's really fun to see them so excited about plants, about being outside. They like coming to work for me and like getting involved with the community. That's the most rewarding to see that interest blossom."
The greenhouse won't only benefit the landscape club. Crawford said the local Master Gardener group plans to use the new facility as well. St. Joseph County Extension also hopes to get the community to come for educational opportunities they will offer at the greenhouse.
The goal is to have the greenhouse finished by the end of April. Crawford said he would like to include the high school's building trades class in the building process.
As for the high school's landscaping club, Crawford envisions its continued growth. He would like to see it develop into a class rather than just an afterschool club. However, he said that decision is ultimately up to the school.
"It's really the only agriculture outlet that the students have at the high school for right now," he said.
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