The VLC at the Mooresville High School is home to thousands of books, eight desktop computers, and lots of lounge space. Upon arriving at the VLC, to the right of the doors is a plant that grows alone within the vicinity. The Agriculture students have this plant for a multitude of reasons.

One of the main reasons for this plant is to visually show the student body what the Agriculture kids do, and how they grow plants. They grow herbs and vegetables that they process and use for cooking. The students in that class are completely responsible for maintaining the plants and working on ways to expand them. Each kid’s opinions are carried into making the design of what to grow.

All in all it offers a way to show these kids responsibility. The students are in charge of doing research on the various vegetables and herbs they’ll plant. They also make sure it can grow in the aquaponics without having any trouble in the process. Each Friday, a few students are chosen to go maintain the plant in the VLC.

Senior Emma Eytcheson explains shares that they work hard in that class.

“I think it’s eye-catching to get more people more involved in the Agriculture class,” Eytcheson said.

 This year counts as the second year of  growing these plants in the VLC. Last year it took about a semester to get it going. This year, they got it going much quicker. The kids have also  learned how to plumb and do mechanics in the process. The teacher, Jeffrey Voris,  shares that he tries to get them to figure things out on their own as much as possible. This teaches them discipline and responsibility. Of course he is always there to help with any situation or answer any questions. It could be a whole lot easier to tell them, but it is more engaging for them to figure it out on their own.

Voris tells reporters that the students learn to care for the plants on their own, and pick up on responsibility.

“We just do a lot of experimenting out here. We figure out how to grow it and figure out what to not do,” Voris said.

The plants are meant to be lasted throughout the school year, with about eight months of lifespan. The lights in the setup are on timers, in which they go out on their own. They are not supposed to be on all the time, because just like average plants, they need some time away from the light source.

Senior Tori Hamilton  was asked how this class benefits students. She agreed that it helps to demonstrate what the Agriculture class is doing, and explains that it helps to show how it happens.

“It’s really to expose people to how things are grown, such as these vegetables,” Hamilton said.

Overall this class teaches on responsibility on how to care for these plants, how to maintain them throughout the year, and shows off what the students are doing to the student body.