Have you seen the flowers around our campus and wonder where the heck did they come from? Well, it was a project done by our plant science class. The plant science class is taught by Michael Mensonides, who has a background in agriculture, has been teaching at Rogers High School for about five years.

Being an agriculture science teacher, one of Mensonides requirements is to make sure every one of his students has the proper SAE or Supervised Agricultural Experience. This is less of a project and more of job experience for the plant science students.

“Many districts’ students raise pigs, sheep, rabbits, cows, or have jobs.  I wanted to create a project that every one of my students had access to,” Said Mensonides.

The plant science class has worked on many projects that are evident throughout the school, such as creating grow beds for fruits and veggies, planting various types of flowers around the campus, and pulling out dead bushes and replacing them with new ones.

So, what are the plant science students specifically growing? Well, they’re growing all the classic fruits and veggies like potatoes, onions, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, strawberries, lettuce, and maybe some broccoli or cauliflower.

All this produce will be donated to local food banks, which will help families who can’t afford it and are in need of healthy foods.

“Often the most expensive food is fresh produce and people who go to food banks for help are not having the same access to fresh produce,” Mensonides said.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, the plant science students have made hanging flower baskets, which will be sold to Rogers families. The money from the sale will then be used to fund the next plant science student’s projects.

Plant science is a great class for students who love to learn, are hardworking, love the outdoors, and want to be self-sustaining.

“A student can learn so much from it. Be it understanding biology concepts like mitosis or miosis better. Be it have a greater appreciation for doing a job start to finish like a seed to a fruit. I believe to struggle in dealing with weather, watering, transplanting, fertilizing, all of these help give students insight and understanding to other things in life,” Mensonides said.

Clare Bockus, a student at Rogers, said, “Honestly, I think this class is really fun, it’s tough. It’s not for everyone. And if you don’t like putting effort, it’s not for you. But if you actually like working, it’s really fun.”