PHS Agricultural Programs Open New Outdoor Classroom

The Peotone High School Agriculture Program and FFA Chapter held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 11, for the program’s new outdoor classroom on the southwest side of the high school. Students from the program, who worked to design and build the classroom, were on hand.

The outdoor classroom has been a project of several agricultural classes at the high school, with two horticulture classes doing most of the work. Students learned principles of landscape design in the fall of 2022 and put a plan in place for the outdoor classroom to come to life. Each student created a design, and then the classes voted on their favorite. Senior Olivia Wagner had the winning design.

Her design included several landscaped plants and a patio shade, with hexagon picnic tables for students to use during their outdoor class time. Olivia is a senior at PHS and a retiring FFA officer, whose FFA career includes a State FFA Degree – the highest degree a student can receive from the Illinois FFA.

Horticulture students spent last fall putting down perennial plants and mulch. This spring, students finished putting more mulch down and checking on the plants they planted in the fall. Classes already have been busy enjoying the outdoor area since the weather has warmed. Annual flowers, raised in the high school greenhouse by horticultural students, will be planted in the area during the last few weeks of school.

Students in the Ag Mechanics and Technology class contributed to the classroom, as well. They put posts in the ground with concrete as part of their concrete and masonry unit. They also helped assemble the picnic tables. Overall, 32 students were active in building this outdoor classroom.

The outdoor classroom was supported by funds from the Peotone FFA Alumni and Supporters.