Fort Lupton High School students opened a greenhouse to provide plants for the community.
"We started a school-based enterprise, the Devils Garden, which we call our greenhouse, to provide plants to our community from heirloom seeds and safe for the bees, said Judy Howell, Career Explore teacher.
"It gives the kids some experience and ownership in something and some skills that they can apply to other aspects of their lives."
Career Explore is a grant-funded program throughout the state that seeks to reengage students at risk of dropping out.
"Explore is unique to Fort Lupton High School, but is funded through a state Student Reengagement Grant. It's been around for about six years. This is my second year doing this," Howell said.
"For the plants we sell, the proceeds come back into the greenhouse to educate more students and run the program."
Howell said the program has 86 kids, either full-time or part-time this year.
"The majority of the kids in the program are juniors and seniors, and we try to get them to the point that they can graduate," she said.
Empty greenhouse
Howell said she noticed that the greenhouse at the school was empty about a year ago. It was 27 years old and had been vacant for years and was only used for storage. She asked her principal if they could use the greenhouse.
"I want to see kids out here and do some gardening with them. Also, my purpose of gardening is hands-on; many of my students are male, and they like doing hands-on things," Howell said. "It's about seeing something grow and bring it to life from a seed," she said.
Howell and the program began last summer and continued into the fall season, with several working in the greenhouse. Students built an automatic watering system with tubes and sprinklers connecting a waterway for the plants, designed to water plants at a particular time.
"We built the automatic watering system so the students don't have to come in water every day, on the weekends, and on vacations," Howell said.
The greenhouse's roof is damaged, meaning the plants don't get natural light. So the students built stands for grow lights to get enough light to the plants.
They also release ladybugs into the greenhouse to eat the pests. They use no pesticides or other harsh chemicals.
"We use worm juice waste products," Howell said. "The worm feces is good fertilizer. We are working on getting worms to sell so people can use them for fishing or put in their gardens."
When the student sells the plants, they give instructions on how to plant and water them and eventually will have information cards to go with them.
"It's a way for us to get back to the community and for the kids to take ownership in something about their education and maybe get some memories," Howell said.
The greenhouse will be May 13 in anticipation of Mother's Day, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. There will be a sign outside with greenhouse hours.
Howell said she expects they will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the rest of the school year.
The kids will be going on summer break so the greenhouse hours will be slightly different. But they plan on having regular hours over the summer and will have plants constantly for sale. Watch their Facebook page for updates.
Visit the greenhouse Facebook page Devils' Garden FLHS Greenhouse. It shows pictures of the plants and what's in stock, where to place an order, and what time to come and pick it up, and they will have it ready for you. There is also a link to their website on Facebook.
To place an order or call 303-857-7100.
