News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Students Raylee Ballard and Keegan Schuh water plants in the greenhouse at Pied Piper on Wednesday. The greenhouse continues to teach valuable skills to students and will hold its Mother’s Day sale in May.

ALPENA — With their annual Mother’s Day sale coming up, Pied Piper students and staff shared the value that the greenhouse offers to students’ lives.

The greenhouse is run by 18- to 26-year-old students in the transition classroom at Pied Piper with the help of Beth Lucas, paraprofessional and master gardener.

Students run the greenhouse from top to bottom. They manage every stage of plant growth from seed to blossom, and they clean the space as needed. They even make their own soil mixture. The goal, Lucas said, is for students to do 90% of the work.

“A lot of it is just verbal prompting and reassurance that they can do it,” Karla Kowalski, the transition room teacher, said.

All the students in the transition classroom help out at the greenhouse in a weekly rotation, except for a few who are sensitive to the heat and noise.

“Every week they have a different job, and they enjoy coming in,” Kowalski said.

“They’re active in the sale, too, even with communicating with people in the community that come into the sale, helping with the purchases, taking things up to their cars, helping with money exchanges, always with adult support,” she said.

The skills that students learn in the greenhouse can be applied once they graduate and enter the workforce. Even before they graduate, Pied Piper students can take advantage of work-based learning opportunities, including a new opportunity starting in May at Kipfmiller’s. Lucas will be coaching four students, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, as they learn skills in a real-world environment.

Students Keegan Schuh and Raylee Ballard are two of the greenhouse’s regular attendants. Ballard has helped in the greenhouse for the past three years.

Schuh said his favorite plant is the Johnny Jump Up, which he grew from seed this year. The Johnny Jump Ups are now blossoming in time for the sale. The petals are edible, Schuh said.

Schuh was proud to share his gardening knowledge, as he also keeps his own plants at home. Kowalski and Lucas said that they’ve learned a lot from him.

This school year, Lucas has expanded the program to teaching students about houseplants. Students are learning how to identify different houseplants and how to propagate them, Kowalski said. Shelves in the entrance to the greenhouse are lined with a variety of house plants and succulents that students help maintain. Most of the plants are not yet big enough to sell, but they will likely be ready for next year’s sale.

The plant sale runs on May 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and May 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Pied Piper Greenhouse, 444 Wilson Street in Alpena. The sale is cash and check only.

Plants include petunias, geraniums, begonias, new guinea impatiens, calibrachoa, lantana, thunbergia, tomatoes, and peppers. Decorative planters, window boxes, and more will also be available for purchase. Proceeds support Pied Piper students.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.