WATERVILLE — When students in Waterville go back to school next month, they’ll find a new greenhouse on the grounds.
The Waterville School District has been working with Cashmere-based Smith Excavation over the summer to construct the new building. While it’s not finished yet, Waterville Superintendent Tabatha Mires said she anticipates the build will be completed by the beginning of the school year.
While the greenhouse will ultimately cost the school district over $100,000, there’s no final price tag as things may occur during the construction process, Mires said. She added that the project is financed through Waterville’s community projects levy, which allows the school district to improve its buildings through taxes.
“The greenhouse project has been a dream and a vision of our (agriculture) teacher, Mia Thomsen, and our advisory committee in our agricultural department for several years,” Mires said.
It came about because teachers wanted to give students the opportunity to learn more about agricultural practices, she said.
The greenhouse will be located next to the Rejniak building, which houses Waterville’s career and technical education courses. Mires said the school will use the greenhouse in its plant sciences, landscaping, floral design, and other classes.
While some greenhouse plants will be sold to the community or used in classes, others will be harvested to feed Waterville students directly.
“We’d love to be able to add fresh options to our school menus,” Mires said.
Trent Brown is a summer 2022 World intern covering agriculture, local government, and community. He’s a senior at Northwestern University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of magazine North by Northwestern. Follow Trent on Twitter: @trent_br0wn.
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