TROUTDALE, Ore. — Greenhouses built for a Reynolds School District program are helping teach young adults with disabilities entrepreneurship and other life skills.
The students get hands-on experience growing and nurturing the plants, and eventually putting them up for sale come spring.
"Our aim with the greenhouses is to create an onsite work experience for the students," said transition specialist Christina Bederka.
The students received some of the donated plants from Fred Meyer and seeds donated from Parkrose Hardware. The students also got a $1,000 grant from the Reynolds Education Foundation to expand the greenhouse program.
A main goal of the program is to teach students how to get and hold down a job.
"Finding a job for people with disabilities can be a struggle," Bederka said. "I think it's a misconception that it's going to be more work for the employer, or it's going to be a burden or imposition. But our students are capable of working in many places."
The Community Transition Program within the Reynolds School District is a three-year program for young adults with disabilities, from 18 to 21 years old.
"It just gives me options in life," said Josiah Fleenor, a 20-year-old student in the program. "Maybe I can work at a park or something, learn how to grow plants and take care of them. It's just good to have options, more things you can do in life."
Bederka said she hopes to partner with a local nursery or gardener in the future to allow the students to volunteer and learn more skills.
"The experience has been good," Fleenor said. "It helps you ease into the rest of the world and get used to things."