Document text
48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 21, 2004 Vern Loy�s sixth-grade McLoughlin Middle School horticulture class prepares seedlings in one of the school�s greenhouses. The seedlings will be up for sale May 1-2. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Program outlives its own demise McLoughlin’s horticulture class was officially terminated because of budget cuts, but founder Vern Loy kept it going By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune The sixth-grade horticulture students at McLoughlin Middle School have a system, explains Ali Hyman. She’s part of the team filling containers with soil and setting them on trays. Fellow students collect the trays and take them into greenhouses, where they carefully tuck tiny marigold plants into the soil. The class is preparing for the horticulture program’s sale May 1-2, likely to be its last ever, said Vern Loy, the teacher who founded the program nine years ago. The program, known for producing heirloom tomatoes as well as other vegetable and bedding plants, was discontinued last year as school budgets shrank, he said. Loy, who had taught hundreds of middle school students each year in the two greenhouses and nursery tucked beside the athletic fields, wouldn’t let the program die. Advertisement He still had $9,000 for supplies that the kids had earned through last year’s plant sale. He became a sixth-grade teacher and offered horticulture as an elective for the sixth-graders. Each quarter, about 30 kids took his class. "I think people will be tickled pink with what sixth-graders can do," he said. With only a fraction of the kid power that was available in previous years to work in the greenhouses, the classes have grown nearly 18,000 plants, including 24 varieties of peppers, 21 types of tomatoes, multiple sorts of marigolds, asters, lobelia, violas, fuchsias and hardy perennials. Bright blooming plants have been gathered into hanging baskets that are always a top seller. "Our product is competitive with other nurseries," Loy said. "And the kids learn so much you can’t teach out of a book." "I think they should keep it going," said Payton Bradley, who is taking the class this quarter. "It teaches responsibility." Will McKeen, who took the class in the previous quarter, also wants to see the program continue. "My favorite thing is the hands-on part," he said. "I don’t like pencil-work too much, but I like being outdoors and planting things. You can figure the amount of containers that fit in a tray and calculate germination. Sixth-graders would really be missing out if it ends." In past years, the students sold their wares at the Master Gardener Spring Fair, set for this weekend at the Jackson County Expo. They don’t have enough plants to participate this year, so they hope their loyal customers will visit the school’s sale the following weekend, Loy said. "We want to be able to pay off all our bills at the end of the year," he said. Loy doesn’t know if science classes or others will continue to use the McLoughlin greenhouses for projects. He expects to move to an elementary school to continue teaching sixth grade next year. Maybe a horticulture program will sprout up there. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times