SHS greenhouse open for the community

The Strathmore High School greenhouse had its grand opening today.

Teacher at Strathmore High School Cole Hintz said that the purpose of the grand opening is so that donors and the community can see what they have been chipping away at over this last year.

"We've been chipping away at it 1 project at a time, and we're excited to be in a space where we can welcome the community in welcome our donors and kind of show them what we've done over this past year."

Hintz explains that this project wouldn't have been made possible without the help of the community.

"The community was huge when it came to both kind of helping us raise funds and when it came to building it, having volunteers out and actually helping build it and then on the business side when it came to finding contractors or building supplies. They've been great in just supporting us, giving us discounts, kind of helping us with labor costs kind of every step of the way."   

Plants outside of the SHS greenhouse

The greenhouse is on a community space and Hintz says that he hopes that the whole community will get involved with it.

"Our goal from start to finish was to have a space that can be used by all demographics. We operate it with no overhead, so there is no cost to community groups who would like to use it and be a part of it."

Many students at Strathmore High were apart of building the green house and had many different jobs throughout the project. 

"When you look around, there isn't a single thing that hasn't been touched by a student at some point in the project, which is kind of cool. Sometimes it when your kind of sitting there working on a project, it's kind of grinding, you keep thinking, 'is this ever going to be done?' But then when you look at the totality of what our students have accomplished, it's pretty amazing and they're definitely pretty proud of themselves."

The main goal for the grand opening is for Hintz and the school to thank the donors, students and the community in helping make the greenhouse a reality. 

"We have some different students coming so that we can kind of recognize their work and what they've done, give students the opportunity to walk around, give community members the chance to walk around, see what we've done over the past year."

Jen Neufeld had the opportunity to teach the students the introduction to permaculture course at the high school and is super excited for the grand opening of the greenhouse. 

"It's just fun to see the excitement in the community."

Neufeld is also a part of Communities in Bloom, where they support community project, and the community greenhouse has been one of projects that they support.

"We hope to be able to utilize the space too as an organization. This greenhouse is a place to come and learn and grow and try new things. Cole Hintz been instrumental in involving as many different groups as possible and people and students in the different aspects of it, whether it's building or growing or maintaining it."

The greenhouse is now open for the public and is strongly believed that it's on its way to becoming a staple in the community.

The outside of the SHS community greenhouse

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