By Rachel Knight
Agricultural education in high schools is often associated with students who aspire to become production farmers or ranchers; but as the floral design program at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station proves, the education provided in agriculture classes offers opportunities for growth and career development beyond this stereotype.
Floral design is a fine arts credit for high school students, which means all floral design classes teach the same art principles and practices. Rebecca Luna, the floral design teacher at A&M Consolidated, says floral design classes are important because they offer an opportunity to teach things core classes cannot.
Agricultural education and FFA often go hand in hand. If a school has one, it generally has the other. A&M Consolidated is no exception, but while some floral design programs are centered around skills and knowledge needed for FFA’s floriculture contest, Luna’s program focuses on serving the community as a fully functioning floral shop.
Arrangements made in Luna’s floral classes are displayed at banquets, one of which requires the students to make 200 centerpieces; funerals, including Barbara Bush’s memorial service; baby showers and similar events; and about 20 weddings a year.
Caitlyn Dietert, a junior in Luna’s class, says floral design requires a high level of commitment, involvement, and learning. Under Luna’s guidance, she has learned the importance and responsibility that come with creating arrangements for other people, especially for one-time events like weddings. “Those things are part of someone’s biggest day of their life,” she says. “That will be photographed and put in their house forever.”
In addition to teaching responsibility, floral design teaches business practices. Running a working floral shop with her classes allows Luna’s students to see the business end of things as realistically as they can without actually working in a store.
“Kids have no idea what things cost and how to make a profit on that,” Luna says. “When they get to sit in on client consultations, they get a lot of interpersonal skills. … That’s just really good for the kids to see the whole behind-the-scenes thing.”
Creativity flows freely in Luna’s classroom. She challenges students by forcing them out of their comfort zones with the level of structure or lack of structure in different projects. Luna and her students are occasionally challenged together by requests from brides. One such bride had a Day of the Dead themed wedding. She told Luna her theme and colors and requested that Luna and her students be creative.
“It turned out really pretty,” Luna says. “She got married the Friday before Halloween. It was very much a part of their Hispanic culture. The colors were dark burgundies, maroons, some deep purples, and the kids loved that wedding because it was stuff people wouldn’t normally order.”
Creating things for other people and events in floral design is something Lauren Herring, a junior in Luna’s class, finds rewarding, especially when they make service type projects.
“We made mums and garters, which wasn’t a service thing, but we got to deliver them to the life skills students,” Herring shares. “We delivered those and got to see their reactions, and that was really cool. It made them feel included in the whole spirit week, which is something they don’t normally get to participate in with all the craziness of it.”
Luna says community service projects help teach students how big of a role the floral design industry plays in society, while the class itself provides a break from the daily school grind.
“Every other class they go to is very much pen and paper based,” Luna explains. “In here, they get to be creative and do something fun. It’s an hour of learning, but learning in a different way. Hands-on for sure.”
