Students in a freshman year agriculture class at Lander Valley High School harvested over 30 pounds of lettuce this week after growing it entirely inside their classroom. The greens were delivered to the cafeteria and served in school lunches for teachers and students the following day.
The Lettuce was produced using a hydroponic grow system overseen by Eric Watson, the school's new agriculture teacher and Wrestling coach of the last five years. Watson, who spent 18 years working in agriculture, mostly for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, has been given full control of the school's agriculture program and is using it to emphasize hands-on, real-world learning.
"I want kids doing real-life ag stuff," said Watson of his classroom full of young Wyomingites, some of whom come from ranching families. "Things they can see from start to finish, where they actually have skin in the game."
The hydroponic system allows students to grow lettuce in roughly a third of the time it would take in soil. Plants receive 18 hours of bright light per day, constant water access, and the stable temperatures of the classroom, removing many of the unwanted variables of the outdoor farming environment.
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