Sunset Elementary School builds new greenhouse | People | codyenterprise.com

Building geodesic greenhouses is no longer strictly for adults. Elementary school students are now getting a taste of what it takes to construct one, and to harvest the plants that come out of it.

“Hands-on learning creates commitment to the final project,” said Computer Science teacher Jez Krubeck.

“There is incredible power to growing your own food instead of eating processed foods.”

Krubeck has taught at Sunset Elementary School for the past 22 years. Just this year, his job title was changed to ‘Computer Science/Classrooms to Careers.

“We presented the project and building details to our departments and the school board for approval. All of the materials for this project came from a crop block grant from the USDA via the Wyoming Deptartment of Agriculture and the University of Wyoming Extension Office,”

When Krubeck was teaching third grade, he had his students build hydroponics kits out of two-liter bottles to grow kale and basel in the classroom.

“We do a lot of stuff that is hands-on to get the kids back into problem solving,” he said. “We are really trying to put an emphasis on taking the skills that students learn to where they could apply those skills.”

Krubeck is the coordinator for the Geodesic Dome project at Sunset school.

“There are three vents near the bottom of the dome, and one at the top. They open and close on their own when the inside temperature reaches 70 degrees,” Krubeck said.

He said the soil that is placed inside the dome’s perimeter was first sent off to Colorado State University for testing.

“We just added our composting worms in the soil last week,” he said. “And we plan to put grow lights in the dome during the winter.”

High school students who were taking wood shop classes came to Sunset to help stretch the plastic that lined the dome, Krubeck said.

“They also manual-labored the dirt,” he added.

Krubeck sad this is the 29th Geodesic Dome that has been built in Wyoming.

“Out of the 29, this is the fastest one that ever went up,” he said. “The plan is to have the fourth graders plant this spring, and then when they come back in the fall, then they will harvest the crops.”

For more information, visit sunset.park6.org/o/sunset/article/1793339.

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.