Hailey Belisle, a student in agriculture sciences at Lethbridge Polytechnic, performs her routine produce duties in the campus greenhouse on Jan. 20. Photo by Hailey Slovack.

Lethbridge Polytechnic’s agriculture sciences program is setting students up for success with hands-on experience through the on-campus greenhouse.

Greenhouse management, a class offered in the agriculture sciences program, engages students through labs and class competitions to grow their own produce the fastest over the course of the semester. Students gain practice growing cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Hailey Belisle, agronomy student, thrives with hands-on group work and practical experience.

“I just honestly love working together. When you get about 15 plus students in here, it gets real cramped real fast, but you all get along. It can be quite fun. I have a really great group,” explains Belisle.

She also feels the experience she is gaining in the greenhouse is helping her retain information and bring her knowledge back to the classroom.

“I very much enjoy it, like, I am a hands-on learner. Show me how to do it once, I’ll know how to do it.  I learn that way, a lot better than reading something off a slide or a piece of paper,” says Belisle. “As we progress further into the semester, what   I’ve learned here in the greenhouse will definitely translate to my lectures and my assignments.”

The campus greenhouse is open for all students during the day, offering flexible times for pruning, harvesting and watering the produce in their care. Students are also encouraged to volunteer helping with greenhouse duties allowing them to gain work experience.

Mark Klassen, instructor in the agriculture science program, notices the effect the on-campus greenhouse has on his students. He enjoys seeing his students engaged in active, hands-on leaning that bring their classroom lectures to life.

“They’re really excited to be out there doing that work. I think when they’re enjoying what they’re doing and getting that experience, they tend to learn a lot more and retain a lot more of that knowledge,” says Klassen.

Classes are dedicated to exploring various research topics such as soil treatment effects and plant growth rates designed to be applicable to real-world agricultural settings.

In addition to her studies, Belisle believes the greenhouse labs are setting her up for industry success. She feels the experiments she is able to conduct through the greenhouse give her practical experience valuable to her future.

“We’re going to be growing different types of crops and seeing how they react to fertilizer. It’s this research here that I’ll be able to take into my career and then use.”

The greenhouse was built during the peak of the pandemic, after the polytechnic was granted $1.15 million in federal research funding. The mission was to spark an interest in science and research in polytechnic students. Since then, the campus greenhouse has become a vital asset in the curriculum of agriculture sciences.