Page 4 - April 13, 2022

{ 4 } SNJ Today | APRIL 13, 2022 APRIL 13, 2022 | SNJToday.com { 5 }
IN OUR SCHOOLS

Millville High Students garden industry. Espoma responded by Environmental Science
making a generous donation of organic
Partner with Community potting soil and fertilizer to the green- students Tyler Jones and
Jae-ran Drinks check in on
in Growing Plants house. the plants they are growing
in the Millville High School
According to LaTorre, this was the first
Environmental Science students at step to creating a zero-waste program: greenhouse.
Millville High School only recently gained “We would like the greenhouse to become
access to a brand new greenhouse facil- self-sustainable by utilizing ‘seed saving’
ity. It officially opened in September 2021 and using biodegradable pots and organic
as part of the major renovation project fertilizers and potting mixes. It was a
currently underway on the Senior High no-brainer to reach out to the Espoma
campus. Now, just a few months later, the Company, which was started here in
greenhouse is already giving back to the Millville.”
community. Next, the teachers were put in con-
All of this would not have been pos-
sible if not for a chain of community con- tact with the Holly City Development
Corporation, which created the Millville
nections that can only be described as Community Garden at 401 East Vine
“home-grown.” It began with teachers Street in Center City Millville. This gar-
Mike LaTorre and Darren Carr, who co- den is part of a wider effort to revitalize
teach the Environmental Science classes downtown Millville, as outlined in the
and also manage the greenhouse for the HCDC Center City Neighborhood Plan. DeShay Colson and other
school and are responsible for manage- The Community Garden and fellow sci- students explain the grow-
ment of the growing program. ence teacher Brenda Hoffman contributed ing process to Mr. Serge
First, the pair made a connection with tomato and pepper seeds, which would be Brunner from Espoma,
who was invited to visit
the Espoma company, a nearly 100-year- the very first plants Millville High School the Millville High School
old family-owned and Millville-based students had the opportunity to grow in greenhouse and see the
business that is the leading provider of the greenhouse. progress of the program.
organic fertilizer in the retail lawn and
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