Kara McCormick and Millie Lochore at work in the potting shed Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Cloning cauliflower and grafting tomatoes onto potatoes are some of the experiments keeping students hooked into ag classes at Katikati College.
It has been nearly 18 months since the Grow Hub, located on the college grounds in the Western Bay of Plenty, opened its doors for those taking part in the school's Innovative Horticulture programme.
"Nobody in their right mind would clone a cauliflower, but it works quickly, and it has a fascination factor," Hilary Johnson, the programme manager, told Country Life.
Keeping the subject matter fun, flexible, inclusive and engaging was key, she said, and it helped having the new well-equipped facility which includes a large classroom, two labs, a kitchen and growing areas.
The college is semi-rural, in the heart of avocado and kiwifruit country. The hub is owned by the Katikati Innovative Horticulture Trust, formed in 2018.
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Preparing the soil for spring planting Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Johnson was charged with reinventing the horticulture programme six years ago and has helped drive the building of the $600,000 hub, funded by many sponsors in the horticulture sector.
Horticulture as an NCEA subject has had a bad reputation and had failed to engage students in the past, she told Country Life.
Katikati College horticulture teachers Graeme Vallely and Hilary Johnson Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The programme and the Grow Hub aim to spark teens' interest and a possible career in all aspects of horticulture.
"Horticulture had become a place where students came if they didn't know what to do or couldn't do anything else or were told to. It was perceived as an easy option, not academic.
"Students didn't want to stay on. Teachers didn't want to stay on. It's not an uncommon picture that's happened in a number of schools around New Zealand over time."
A wide range of subjects are covered at the Grow Hub including agribusiness, marketing, science, robotics and sustainability.
Year 12 students Kara McCormick and Millie Lochore are in their second year of the subject and plan to return for a third. They have been producing orchids from tissue culture, making their own potting mix and using rooting hormones. There is a business aspect to their study too, as they plan to sell their indoor plants at the local market.
They tend the orchids in a sterile lab kitted out with heat pads and special lighting.
Indoor plants growing in one of the labs Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
"It's a very independent subject, which I love personally, because we can go in our own speed, or [do] whatever we're interested in, and find a passion," Millie said.
Kara, whose family has a kiwifruit orchard, said she was keen to end up on the orchard and expected she would be aided by the the knowledge she has gained at the hub.
"We get to pick what crop we do. So, I did kiwifruit, and so I learned a lot more knowledge about different kinds of management practices that go into growing kiwifruit."
Millie enjoyed visits to organisations like Zespri to understand the career opportunities associated with horticulture.
"I don't think we really saw an interest in horticulture until we started learning about it and got the knowledge for it. But now that we have, it's just grown. I love gardening, like, why would you not want free food at home, right?" she said.
The Grow Hub education facility includes growing areas, labs and classrooms in the grounds of Katikati College Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
A flexible approach to assessment - no deadlines on assignments, for example - had also improved students' engagement, Johnson said.
"We have pitched it as a course where there is an option for everybody from all academic levels, interests and walks of life. We have put in a lot of choice in terms of what students learn, how they present that learning, how they are assessed, the rate at which they can proceed."
They not only grew, harvested and learned the marketing of produce, but how to entice the consumer too, Millie said.
"We get to make stuff in our wonderful kitchen. We've made cricket protein brownies, and we've had some students eat full scorpions, just for the protein experiments about them."
Katikati College students at work at the Grow Hub Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
One of the key foundations for the programme and the Grow Hub's success was the many orchardists, packhouses and other horticultural operators, within close range, keen to give support, Johnson said.
Another big driver of support from operators had been the shortage of skilled workers.
"Some of them will pay just about anything to get good skilled workers," she said. "We're just trying to catch up with demand."
About 60 percent of the students came back each year when previously, a large number would give up after Year 11, Johnson said.
She was also pleased with the number of students moving into tertiary horticultural or agribusiness studies and a closing of the gap between students.
"For five, might be six years now, we have had no disparity gap between Māori, Pasifika and Pākehā students, which is unusual, not just in horticulture, but in education full stop. So, we are very, very proud of that. And I think it's that personalised learning that has contributed to that as well."
Learn more:
- Find out more about the Grow Hub here