SOWING THEIR OATS; CLASS YIELDS BOUNTY OF RICHES TO PUPILS.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer Her feet clad in clunky platform shoes Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or sandals with thick soles, often made of cork, plastic, rubber, or wood (wooden-soled platform shoes are technically also clogs). They have been worn in various cultures since ancient times for fashion or for added height. , Jessica Sibert balanced precariously on the edge of a shovel blade in the middle of Monterey High School's campus garden. The 17-year-old senior may have been dressed in the latest street fashion but she was engaged in a centuries-old task: agriculture. ``I like this class,'' said Sibert, one of 22 teens in the class that grows flowers and vegetables as part of a life-science course at the continuation school continuation school: see vocational education. . ``I love plants and flowers and I like watching things grow.'' Since the class started last year, students have grown lettuce, spinach, onions and radishes as well as flowering plants plants which have stamens and pistils, and produce true seeds; phenogamous plants; - distinguished from See also: Flowering such as sweet william sweet William: see pink. sweet William Garden plant (Dianthus barbatus) in the pink family, grown for its clusters of small, brightly coloured flowers. , daffodils and snapdragons. During each quarter, students harvest and eat the fruits of their labor. Recently, the class made chicken salad, using carrots, onions, radishes, spinach, lettuce and chives chives alliumschoenoprasm. from the garden. ``I believe in hands-on learning,'' said science and health teacher Linda Pincu, who started the course as a way to provide students with a fun and educational way to fulfill a life science requirement. Since its debut, the class has provided that and much more. Pincu - and her students - say it has taught them responsibility, consistency and the concept of delayed gratification GRATIFICATION. A reward given voluntarily for some service or benefit rendered, without being requested so to do, either expressly or by implication. . ``We're learning how to manage things and how to be consistent,'' said Clara Banda, 16, who enrolled at Monterey after missing 65 days of school. For Sibert, who ``got bored with school and stopped going,'' growing her own flowers and vegetables offers a new reason for showing up to class. ``It gives you pride,'' said Sibert who grows roses, daffodils and pansies at home and who plans to celebrate her 17th birthday Wednesday by picking up more plants at a local nursery. ``You can see the product of something you've grown.'' The class also provides lessons for future homeowners, students said. ``For people who come in here who really take an interest, it pays off for them,'' said Jordan Kyzer, 17. ``They're learning how to make their own house attractive.'' Pincu said the class is so popular that she sometimes has to turn away students. ``I have people begging me to get into this class,'' said Pincu who limits the class size to 22 students. Materials and tools for the class are paid for with campus funds, Pincu said. ``The principal thinks it's an important class,'' she said. And so do students. ``This class gives you a good feeling,'' said Lisa Morales, 18. ``You've actually worked for something.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos PHOTO (1) Monterey High School Monterey High School can refer to the following secondary schools:
(2) Jessica Sibert checks the depth of a hole that will accommodate a rose bush. John Lazar/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion