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Narrative:  Dyer County High School in Newbern, Tennessee designed this project to enhance curriculum by including horticulture, greenhouse management and landscaping. The project, created by Dan Smith, assisted the agriculture students expand their knowledge of horticulture beyond the classroom and into the real world by establishing a nursery and landscaping business. The students design landscape projects for customers in the community and install the landscaping material. The English department created marketing materials and newspaper articles; biology classes conducted soil analysis tests at job sites; the software tools class designed the company logo and business cards; consumer science made work aprons; and, math classes calculated the amount of soil amendments, mulch and fertilizer needed for each job.

It Works!  Mr. Smith's classes are always full with a waiting list and the project earns enough money to sustain this effort. The grade point average of students in the project has increased over the last two years. Program participant surveys reveal that customers rate the job performance of the students consistently excellent.

Contact:
Dan Smith
Dyer County High School
820 Williams Street
Newbern, TN 38059
(voice) 901-627-2229
(fax) 901-627-2152
E-mail: dsmith@mail.dyercs.k12.tn.us