Littleton students have the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of agriculture – ranging from planting hydroponic lettuce to observing bee behavior – at EPIC Campus. The Explorative Pathways for Innovative Careers (EPIC) Campus opened in August 2023 with a focus on teaching aerospace, trade skills, health and earth sciences, among other subjects. Students attend EPIC for part of the day before returning back to their home Littleton Public Schools high school for the rest of the day.
In an outdoor storage unit on campus, a hydroponic farm can be found, where students start seedlings before transporting them into the vertical structures that hold the plants, using a water-drip method and artificial light. Once harvested, the greens are transported to local food banks and to the district's school cafeterias, in the form of "EPIC salads."
"The idea is that the students are getting the science credit, they're learning it, but then they're applying it," said Mike Montgomery, the natural resource pathway lead at EPIC who also teaches plant science, hydrology, horticulture, wildlife management and conservation ecology.
Montgomery has been teaching for over 35 years and recently received the 2025 Outstanding Teacher award from Colorado Agriculture in the Classroom, a nonprofit that offers agriculture educational programs and resources for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students and educators.
Read more at The Littleton Independent