Adams County school district adds greenhouse for students

Educational opportunities aren't the only thing being cultivated at Conewago Valley School District this year.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, the school district hosted community members, businesses and local leaders to cut the ribbon on the district's newest addition: a greenhouse on the campus of the district's New Oxford High School.

The Colonial greenhouse, which was five years in the making, will now provide students in the school district with a hands-on opportunity to learn about horticulture, said Drew Little, principal of the district's Colonial Career and Technology Center.

Little also shared remarks from teachers Allison Butler and Kelly Kuhn, who were unable to attend the ceremony due to attending a national Future Farmers of America convention in Indianapolis.

In those remarks, Butler and Kuhn said that the greenhouse will help students foster "a deeper understanding for plant biology, growth cycles and sustainable practices."

"It will enhance skills in problem solving, teamwork and responsibilities as students manage real world tests, like planting, cultivating and harvesting," the remarks said.

The greenhouse will be utilized for several district classes, according to the district, including horticulture classes, a principles of floral design class, and a greenhouse management class.

Upon entering the greenhouse, a small entryway area features various gardening tools, pots, brooms, ladders, shovels, carts, and a pesticide storage area. Moving into the large, main section of the greenhouse, students are provided with numerous large metal grow tables for plants, along with a hydroponic growing area.

The field of hydroponics was cited by Butler and Kuhn as just one of the many areas of innovation that students will now be able to study, thanks to the greenhouse.

While the greenhouse is climate-regulated to ensure it stays within the ideal growing temperatures of 64-75 degrees Fahrenheit all year long, the walls of the greenhouse can roll up during days suitable for the plants inside, helping connect the greenhouse to the outdoor environment.

During a tour for the public, plants already growing in the greenhouse included marigolds, the devil's backbone, spider plants, ornamental pepper plants, black-seeded Simpson lettuce, Bloomsdale spinach, and more.

Future plans for the greenhouse include trial gardens for students, a spring plant sale, herb boxes, wreathes, and "make & take activities."

During the ceremony, the various benefactors who made the greenhouse possible were highlighted, including large commercial donors.

Among the largest donations was that of the J.M. Huber Corporation, which owns Miller Chemical in Conewago Township.

In 2020, Huber donated $100,000 to the Conewago Valley Foundation for Education to put towards the greenhouse, the company said in a press release. The company's Huber Helps initiative donates 1% of the company's net profits to programs that support housing, education, wellness and the environment, the company said.

"When Huber Helps invested in the Conewago Valley Foundation's greenhouse project in 2020," said Gretchen McClain, President and CEO of Huber, in the release, "we did so because we believe that the hands-on learning experiences this project will provide will help inspire the next generation of agriculture workers in Hanover and Pennsylvania to pursue careers and become innovators in this important industry.”

During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Dan Krawczyk, president of Huber Engineered Materials, thanked the Miller Chemical employees who made the company aware of the project.

"It's really the employees of that company, of that local organization, that bring these things to light to the corporation as a whole," said Krawczyk.

"We get to be connected with worthy programs like this through the eyes of our employees," he added.

Other major contributors to the project included Lobar, Mark Dellinger, Land of Lakes, and Monsato, said district superintendent Sharon Perry during the ceremony, also thanking the Conewago Valley Foundation.

"I'm thrilled to see what our talented students are going to be able to accomplish through the development of our curriculum," said Perry, "and also to see what the outstanding activities that our FFA can accomplish by the use of this lab."

"We're cultivating more than just plants," said principal Little. "We're growing future leaders and innovators of agriculture."