Pleasant Hill HS plant sale: Growing Plants for Growing Dreams

By ANABELLE NEININGER/for The Herald  —  Succulents, flowers, vegetables, and more. Community members flocked to Pleasant Hill High School’s greenhouse Saturday morning for a plant sale. The profits of the sale will fund a student trip to the 96th FFA (Future Farmers of America) national competition in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

National competition will be an amazing opportunity

“The trip will give winning students the opportunity to take lessons, meet industry professionals, trade schools, and earn scholarships,” Angela White says, “It gives the student a pathway to see what career they want to pursue in the future. I think it’s an amazing opportunity.”

An educator who wears many hats

White is the school’s CTE (Career and Technical Education) Ag/Life Science Teacher, and  FFA Advisor. Angela coordinates a three-teacher program of study that teaches about 21 agricultural classes. Part of the program focuses on FFA. The FFA organization is a premier leadership program that allows students the chance to learn things in class and apply them in real-world situations. 

White believes that these school programs allow students to, “Get out of the books, apply the learning and get right to the doing.” She’s proud to say that the school’s horticulture class grew almost all of the plants that were sold at the sale. Even the wood planters, holding some of the plants, were hand-crafted by their woodshop students.

Community support is key

The community is extremely supportive of the sales and they are always coming out whenever they have fundraisers, White says. And she hopes the fundraiser’s sales will reach $6500. 

National trips and the school’s organizations would not be possible without fundraisers like this plant sale. The addition of the greenhouse has given way to the school’s single biggest fundraisers. “It’s a great way, not only to make money for our program but also to teach kids about business, communication, and sales,” said Tressa Geyer, student president of the school’s FFA club.

Geyer is pursuing a career in business. She says the school’s public speaking program helped her tremendously in finding her passions and sharing it with her peers. 

Seeing the individuality in each student

“They’re all different. Just like plants,” White says, referring to her students, “There isn’t one cookie cutter image that I have in my mind and we make the best possible student with that student’s attributes and desires.” The school’s study programs are a critical part of the schooling system. They provide a wide array of career choices for students to pursue. 

I think it’s safe to say that Pleasant Hill High School acknowledges that every student is individualistic and needs supportive programs like FFA and CTE to lead them toward a successful direction that suits them best.