Natural Resources Education and Training Area

  • 07/01/13
Greenhouse 

The Elma Agriculture Department in Elma, Wash., needed a facility at the local high school to teach students about growing and aquaculture, as well as to raise fish to replenish the area’s lakes and rivers. They chose a greenhouse that fit well in the space provided for the facility.

The Elma Agriculture Department in Elma, Wash., has greenhouse facilities at the local high school to teach students about growing and aquaculture, as well as to raise fish to replenish the area’s lakes and rivers. The department realized that their current aquaculture facility was no longer efficient and was costing a sizeable sum in sewer expenses. Instructors at the school, including Dave Rutherford, looked at a series of possible solutions and decided that a new structure was necessary. He and the other instructors took the needs of the students into account when choosing a new building. Rather than having a space just for aquaculture, they wanted a multi-use facility.

Rutherford explains, “Bids were accepted from a variety of local companies, along with Growers Supply. No other company could offer us a complete greenhouse with the heating and cooling systems we needed.” The Growers Supply greenhouse fit well in the space provided for the facility and could also utilize the existing drainage system. Rutherford continues, “After we decided on the structure, we approached several companies for grants to help pay for the project. The Weyerhauser Company Foundation and a Lowe’s Community Improvement Grant paid for the greenhouse.”

The greenhouse was constructed by a group of 20 high school students with the guidance of Rutherford, who is not only the natural resources instructor, but also the carpentry teacher. He says, “building this greenhouse was a great lesson for the students. They now show a tremendous amount of pride in what they were able to accomplish.”

Elma’s Natural Resources greenhouse now houses four 800-gallon aquaculture tanks, four misting tables, and is currently raising 1,000 rainbow trout for stocking a local lake and 2,000 Coho salmon to be released into the nearby Chehalis River. Rutherford concludes, “Overall, the entire project has been deemed a success. ”

www.GrowersSupply.com/ADSPM

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management July 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Massachusetts Charter School Opens New Academic Building

    The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSA) in Marlborough, Mass., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new academic building, according to a news release. The 17,000-square-foot space will serve as a classroom and science lab building for the student population of almost a thousand in grades 6–12.

  • Fort Collins to Convert 1980s Office Park into Junior High School

    The Liberty Common School, a charter-public school in Fort Collins, Colo., recently broke ground on an adaptive reuse project that will convert an 1980s-era office park into a 45,000-square-foot junior high school for seventh- and eighth-grade students, according to a news release.

  • Illinois Elementary School Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion

    Heather Hill Elementary School, part of Flossmoor School District 161 in Palatine, Ill., recently broke ground on a new addition to the school focused on student support and security, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects & Engineers for the expansion as part of a longer-term facility planning and modernization initiative.

  • College of the Desert Starts Construction on New Campus Location

    College of the Desert recently announced that it has broken ground on its new Palm Springs campus in Palm Springs, Calif., according to a news release. The multiple-building campus consists of 175,000 square feet of new construction and will cost an estimated $268 million.