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SCHOOL NEWS CLIPS - MARCH 2010
Buena Regional schools could eliminate 70 jobs (The Daily Journal, by Joseph P. Smith, 3/25/10) Buena Regional School District plans to eliminate 70 positions next year to compensate for a drop in state financial aid. For complete details go to: www.thedailyjournal.com
It smelled like spring in the horticulture classes at Buena Regional High School and the Cape May Institute of Technology this week. Students bustled about with bunches of roses, chrysanthemums, baby’s breath, sunflowers and carnations. They carefully clipped and arranged, tucking stems into the florist’s foam that will help keep the flowers fresh. Beginning today, students from 27 high schools will display almost 700 floral arrangements at the 33rd annual New Jersey FFA Horticultural Exposition at the Burlington Center Mall in Burlington County. Students get to choose from a variety of themes and must follow instructions for size, materials and cost. Christy Novajovsky’s Mother’s Day arrangement of roses in pink and white looked a bit sparse at 9 a.m. Thursday. An hour later it was an impressive array the 16-year-old Buena Regional junior from Estell Manor hopes will be a winner. Tiffany Wade, 17, a senior from Weymouth Township, patiently tucked green-tinted carnations, one by one,into a shamrock made of foam. “Don’t forget you have to factor the labor into the price,” teacher Patricia Thorne reminded her. Studying agriculture is more than just pretty flowers.The horticulture classes at both high schools are just one offering in programs that delve into agri-business, landscape management and greenhouse management. “People think of the program as being about farming,” Cape May Institute of Technology teacher JoAnn Sopchak said. “But there is so much more. Students have gone into research and agri-business.” Statewide, 43 high schools and eight community colleges offer agriculture-related programs.The state has 34 FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) chapters with 1,840 student members. “Just using the term farmers is really too narrow a term to cover all the aspects of agriculture covered in the programs,” said Lynne Richmond, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture. Modern programs even include fish farming. Thorne said that in rural southern New Jersey, some students do have ties to family farms. Others may go into floral arranging. Still others may just enjoy gardening or flower arranging as a hobby. “For the students looking at it as a career, winning an award at the show is a big deal,” she said. “It can help them get a job.” The arrangements are as different as the students. Cape May Tech senior Katrina Nicoletta chose an oriental theme. Senior Katie Mumford used Coke bottles as vases for a recycling theme. Buena Regional senior Victoria Wynavage’s sister just had a baby boy. She lives in South Carolina and won’t get the actual floral arrangement Wynavage, 18, is making to celebrate the event. But she will get a photo. Junior Sarah Pagliughi, 17, of Buena Vista Township, is incorporating her family’s farm into her theme. She built a foam tractor and popsicle-stick trailer for her exhibit, and expected to be working into the night at home to finish on time. Flowers will be displayed as bedding plants in small boxes bearing the Pagliughi Farms name. “I’m setting it on a platform, with dirt, so it looks like it’s driving through a field,” she said. Floral experts will choose winners, and the arrangements will remain on display on both floors of the mall through Sunday.
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Address: Buena Vista Township
Copyright © 1999 [Buena Vista Township]. All rights reserved.
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