The Horticulture class at Oakdale, also known as Bear Necessities, recently had a Valentine’s Day sale in order to raise funds for future projects and celebrate the holiday.

The sale begins with deciding a leader. Senior Kaitlan Wyatt, a Horticulture 3 student, was picked for the role of leader. 

“[I was] in charge of making sure everything’s in order,” she describes, “that everyone got their orders, making sure all the money’s coming through, and that everybody’s paid.”

The next step is selling flowers in the cafeteria. Students take shifts during lunches to sell roses to anyone who’s interested in giving them to someone. The prices of flowers are set by the horticulture students. Those interested have filled in where their 5th block class is, and assigned an order number. Prices vary, depending on the color and add ons. 

During the weeks of the sale, students involved with Bear Necessities organize sales, see which flowers are selling out most, determine if they’re making enough money, and discuss with the administration, making sure they understand how the event will happen.

“It takes a good three weeks for them to prepare for the sales,” says Ms. Sarah Welty, the teacher of the Horticulture classes. “It’s like a wedding on the day of the event because it’s so stressful.”

The sale is driven largely by students, while Welty takes more of a backseat to support them through the process.

Unexpected challenges are also very common. This year, the day before the event, school was canceled due to a snow day.

 “Since they’re fresh flowers, we got them all about 3 days before the sale,so we needed all 3 days. Since we had a snow day, we were all really stressed the day before, but it ended up working out.” Wyatt explains.

All of the effort culminates in the roses being delivered all throughout the school on Valentine’s Day. Students delivered roses based on the information given on the form. Then, they go back to the horticulture class in order to get more.

“I really like delivering the sales themselves. Hearing other people’s stories when they come back, saying the wrong name or anything silly like that, it’s really fun.” notes Wyatt.

The effort is worth it. After the long process, students are able to look back at the work they’ve done, and see how their skills have improved. 

The sale works on organization, dedication, problem-solving, and many other useful abilities. It takes a lot of learning, but “They are the ones that get the satisfaction from a job well done,” Welty remarks.