Gerlach greenhouse grows for kids and seniors

Gerlach High School has a new greenhouse alongside its two-year-old community garden thanks to a $37,000 Learn and Serve America Grant from the FFA Foundation. Both greenhouse and garden will be used as a teaching facility. High-school students will work with K-5 students to teach them how to grow and propagate vegetables and will help elementary teachers apply what the kids learn in the garden to their science and health classes. The project will also provide fresh produce year-round to those at the Gerlach Senior Citizens Center. Other projects related to the greenhouse and garden include teaching kids how to run a business through the use of balance sheets, inventory billing systems, marketing for special events and sales promotion; and making videos about preparing and eating healthy food that will be placed in the local library and health clinic.

“The garden is beautiful and has been well-received by the community,” said Elizabeth Jackson, who wrote the grant for the school. “The greenhouse is the logical next step.”