Hands-On Learning Students Gain Horticultural Knowledge While Running Small-Scale Flower Shop

For Andrea Binderim, preparing for class does not always mean memorizing vocabulary words or solving algebraic equations. Sometimes it requires a little creativity and a green thumb.

Binderim is one of many Shadle Park High School students working in the school’s floral shop, learning marketable skills while earning science credits.

“It’s fun. You get to do a lot of different things,” said Binderim, 18. “I don’t like sitting through class getting lectured. I like hands-on.”

Working in the floral shop provides an active alternative to long, passive lectures. The kids do most of the work - everything from filling orders and helium balloons to wrapping flowers and creating floral arrangements and corsages. But “work” is the key word.

“The shop is conducted like a business,” said Claudia Kuttner, instructional assistant. “The kids answer the phones and ring sales on the cash register. They learn customer service and public relations.”

Students are paid for their labor in course credit. They also receive a grade based on their performance and attendance.

“The purpose of the class is to train them,” Kuttner said. “They learn they need to be punctual and ready to work.”

Floral shop positions are reserved for those students who have completed a series of horticulture classes. For 10 years, Marti Daniels has been teaching kids the finer points of plants - from basic care, anatomy, physiology, identification and insect control to arranging techniques and how to price flowers.

“We teach them skills that will put them in the industry,” she said. “It’s a cool way to teach science.”

Students in the program range from National Honor Society members to high-risk kids. But Daniels makes sure they all get something out of it.

“They learn things like what fertilizer is and how they can use it,” she said. “They learn things they can use.”

Though not unique among Spokane high schools, Shadle Park’s floral shop is one of the oldest. It started in the mid-‘80s with a greenhouse. The floral shop sprouted from there.

The shop doesn’t compete with outside florists. Its services are for students and staff only.

“We have no overhead and the kids are not paid, so we can charge very reasonable prices,” Kuttner said.

For example, a wrapped, decorated rose - a perfect last-minute gift - is $3.25. Average-sized arrangements are $8.50. An order placed during second period will usually be ready for pickup by third.

The shop gets particularly busy for homecoming, the Christmas dance and, of course, Valentine’s Day.

“Everyone hates it,” Kuttner said of the heart-filled holiday. “We order 300 to 400 roses and there are never any left.”

Students in the program get so busy, in fact, they are occasionally excused from other classes to help fill orders.

Shadle Park staff members often take advantage of the in-school florist to send congratulations or condolences to others.

“It’s wonderful,” said Anne Bruya, office manager. “The flowers are always very fresh, and I like knowing the students are learning a possible trade.”

Graduates from the program have gone on to get jobs at local florists and some have gone into business for themselves.

Now Binderim may follow in those very footsteps. But before she started taking horticulture classes, she never thought of designing flowers as a career.

“I liked flowers, but didn’t think I was creative enough (to be a florist),” she said. “I was wrong.”