Three Rivers College will hold a Ribbon Cutting for its new greenhouse on the Poplar Bluff campus at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21.
The Three Rivers Greenhouse was funded with an enhancement grant. Its purpose is to provide hands-on education in cooperation with Agriculture classes.
“The public is invited to celebrate this exciting step forward for our agriculture programs,” said Kathryn Clark, Three Rivers Instructor of Agriculture and Coordinator of Agriculture and Forestry. “Agriculture is rooted in experimentation, and our new greenhouse allows us to bring hands-on science directly into the classroom.”
Constructed next to the Crisp Technology Center and near the Three Rivers Fire Science buildings, The Greenhouse provides hands-on learning for Three Rivers students. Current spring semester students are testing different media, soils, and growing systems to see how they impact plant growth. Many of those plants will be planted around campus as part of an initiative to increase the number of native Missouri plants and add more color to beautify the Three Rivers landscape.
Three Rivers has partnered with Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation to open the Bess Activity Center to the public through a membership program, and in the future, TRC Agriculture students will partner with Parks and Recreation and other community partners to help grow plants around town.
“It is great to be able to talk and teach concepts and then go out and have a hands-on lab, Clark said. “For example, I can teach about the importance of pH in the classroom, and now we can go out for a lab in the greenhouse to have students test PH on our grow systems.”
Three Rivers College offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in Agribusiness. It offers a Transfer Pathway to an Associate of Arts in Agriculture and offers Certificates in Agribusiness, Agriculture Equipment Technician, and Agriculture Systems Technician. To apply, go to trcc.edu/apply/.
