Illinois high school reopens old greenhouse for horticulture class

ALTAMONT — For several years, the old greenhouse located behind Altamont High School was used as a storage area. That is until students and the community came together to give it a new life.

“We had a new agriculture teacher come in and she wanted to use the greenhouse to teach horticulture,” Altamont High School Principal Jerry Tkachuk said. “I said it sounds like a good community project, let’s get it done.”

“The cost of managing a greenhouse is very high,” Tkachuk said, adding new technological advances and an alliance with other schools to share the cost of purchasing plants has lowered the overall cost.

“We had an agricultural program that was geared toward the physical side of farming,” Tkachuk said. “Our new agriculture teacher wanted her students to learn how to grow things.”

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