SHS aims to establish geodesic greenhouse

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Strathmore High School (SHS) teacher is optimistic about being able to fund a greenhouse to be constructed on school grounds that will be open to both student and community use. 

Cole Hintz presented the idea to Strathmore town council on June 16 seeking their endorsement of the project.

“Over the past year, we’ve really been focused on expanding some of the learning opportunities that students within our school and in our school division will be able to engage in,” he said.

The idea is to construct a geodesic dome on school grounds that will be completely off grid, self sufficient, and will operate year-round. 

Estimated to require about $50,000 to construct, as of Hintz’s presentation the school had already secured 80 per cent of the funding they need.

“The plan for the project is to hopefully have it fully funded come September and then be able to give it to the students at that time,” he said. “When you have opportunities to kind of engage in real world experiences, some of the learning is just that much more powerful; and the more that you can involve the community, the more powerful those learning experiences are.”

Mayor Pat Fule said he was excited to hear about the project and the kind of positive impact it could have on the surrounding community.

“I think it’s a great way to get all different types of people together; I think it’s going to help bring the community together in a new and innovative way,” he said. “I think it’s going to be great for their approach to their classes and it’s just a positive for all of Strathmore.”

The greenhouse would join the already operational locally powered farm walls and aquaponics systems present in SHS.

Once completed, the greenhouse would be open for students to engage with local communities and businesses for support in construction of the greenhouse, as well as the horticulture inside of it.

“It feels like a very meaningful, powerful way to go about learning,” said Hintz. “With it, there will be a lot of awesome learning opportunities as we try to get it off grid for the full year and keep it in operation through the winter months.”

Fule said he was proud of the project, of Hintz and the students involved for not only their planning and execution, but also being able to present the project to council as being viable without needing to request additional